20 Feb 2019  |   03:53am IST

Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships!

FC Goa’s women’s team, representing the Forca Goa Foundation, was crowned champions of the Global Goals World Cup, held in Mumbai recently. The team was mentored by Ishita Godinho, manager of the Community and Women’s development initiatives at Forca Goa Foundation. Café speaks to Ishita about the achievements and struggles behind managing the Champions

Nicole Remedios

The Forca Goa Foundation, sister concern of FC Goa,

uses football as a tool for positive development. It was the only team from Goa to participate in the Global Goals World Cup that was held in Mumbai recently and comprised players from FC Goa women’s team as well as other local talent. The team was mentored by Ishita Godinho, manager of the Community and Women’s development initiatives at Forca Goa Foundation.

“We were ecstatic, grateful and overwhelmed, all at the same time. We are extremely proud of this win as the Global Goals event is much more than just football. Winning a competition this special and getting to represent the country is truly an achievement. This also breaks down millions of gender barriers,” reveals Ishita Godinho, with a gleam in her eyes.

SPORTS HAS NO GENDER

Ishita Godinho has been a football fan for an extremely long time; she had started off in the social development sector at the age of 18. Her attachment to the team comes from being an ardent advocate for gender equality and equal opportunity.

According to her, Forca Goa Foundation is a non-profit organisation that uses football for the positive development of individuals and the community. When she had a chance to work with football in bringing about significant positive changes, she grabbed the opportunity.

Besides working with the Forca Goa Foundation, Ishita has been involved with Goa Outreach, an organisation that works to educate and empower lesser privileged communities. She believes that sport improves life and children involved in sports are seemingly happier, healthier and more disciplined.

FORCA GOA FOUNDATION

The Forca Goa Foundation works with over 2000 children in the 6-12 age category and although their training programmes were open to boys and girls, the number of girls were always drastically less than boys. With the foundation, Ishita hopes to bridge these gaps through comprehensive grassroots and women’s development strategies as well as programmes. The programmes at the foundation work towards achieving 3 out of the 16 UN Sustainable Development Goals - gender equality, good health and well-being, responsible consumption and production.

“Goa has some brilliant young women footballers; if this talent is tapped and developed at the right age, I am sure that in the next 4-5 years we will see many Goan names in the Indian National Football team,” expresses Ishita.

COOKING THE DISH

The Champions of the Global Goals World Cup were put together as a team consisting of five players from the FC Goa women’s team and one player from Goa Velha Saints. The girls in the team were already involved in Ishita Godinho’s social programmes and many of them were part of the football festival held for special children. To prepare for the other parts of the competition, the team were involved in several meetings to plan programmes and get their inputs on the same. Once the girls had an in depth understanding of the initiatives and the development goals, they worked on creating banners, videos and info graphics to convey the message to the audience at the Global Goals World Cup.

SISTERHOOD

The atmosphere in relationship with the team is truly inspiring for Ishita, as she has spent days with them and understands the struggles of women. The crowned team had great football chemistry due to a bond created over time while training and playing together in the last season. “I am inspired by the team every time I am around them,” shares Ishita.

A TROPHY TO KISS

The competition in September 2019 will see winners from each country come together in New York during the UN General Assembly. The format of the competition would be similar to that of the qualifying rounds. Points will be awarded to teams on four criteria: Most Original Team Style, Best Action for Global Goals, Most Support Drawn from the Crowds and Most Goals Scored. “Going to New York and representing India is an achievement and honour. There’s also the responsibility that comes with it. The American Football team is at the number one position as per FIFA ranking; if our girls could meet even one of the players from the team, be positively inspired and inspire our next generation of girls, it will all be worth it,” she concludes.