Nizamabad girl makes it big in football!
For someone who was born in the Kishan Tanda in Nizamabad district of Telangana, 16-year-old Gugulath Soumya set another record of sorts — by being the only footballer from the State to get the privilege of representing India Rush Soccer Club in the I-League for Women starting in Mumbai from November 14.
A visibly delighted Soumya says that she is ready for the huge challenge.
Unexpected
“This is totally unexpected though I attended the selections with confidence,” recalls the young soccer talent. “After struggling to get adjusted to the indoor turf in Mumbai, the second day I could manage to score three goals in the first 10 minutes,” she added.
Ms. Soumya is clearly setting a new benchmark for girls from the State aiming to do well in football.
For the record, Soumya started playing football since 2012 under the tutelage of the dedicated coach G. Nagaraju who runs the Care Football Academy in Nizamabad.
Dedicated coach
The academy now has about 80 boys and girls and is clearly the cynosure of all eyes now.
“Yes, the experience of representing India in the AFC under-14, 16 and 19 championships should help me a long way though this League is a different proposition completely because of the seniors being there,” says Soumya. The soccer talent has the rare distinction of representing India in the three age groups of under-14, 16 and 19 years in the AFC championship.
Ronaldo fan
This gifted striker, who was also the highest scorer in the AFC under-16 championship recently, is thankful to Telangana Football Association secretary G. Palguna, who is also the technical committee member of the national federation — All India Football Federation (AIFF).
A big fan of Cristiano Ronaldo, Soumya is all confidence as she was about to leave with father Gopi accompanying her to Mumbai.
Play for India
“I am confident that a good showing in the I-League will only help me realise my dream of playing for India in the seniors category,” says a smiling Soumya, now studying Inter second year (MPC) in the SR College in Nizamabad.
Not surprisingly, hockey international ‘Soundarya Akka’ is a huge inspiration for her as she hails from the same town — Nizamabad!
Inspiration
“This is a great day for women’s football in the State and we hope all the young talent in the Academy and also the government schools to which we are reaching out will also get inspired by Soumya’s achievements,” signs off the jubilant coach Nagaraju.
Incidentally, the coach sees to it that his ward is not armed with a mobile when playing any tournament.
