For the first year in Goa, I lived near a village of Odxel and the view from my balcony was fascinating. The bay looked gorgeous and the tranquil village on the edge of the bay was something I woke up to every morning. My football mind spotted a concrete platform barely enough for a 3 on 3 game in the village and my curiosity took me to the village one day. Carrying a couple of footballs along with my my 2 year old twins we made a family visit to the village. We spotted a few girls on a small sand patch kicking about with an old worn out football. We passed on one football to them and the joy on their faces was visible. One girl whose name was Shanti proudly claimed to be the state player. Also, I was told that there was another rising star named Karishma from the village who was a good player. Quite a unique experience where I realised that the girls in this village had achieved far more than the boys in football. I could not meet Karishma that day but destiny had something else in store for me.
As a part Vedanta Group’s commitment to women empowerment we designed the Vedanta Women’s League along with the Goa Football Association to offer opportunities to around 150 women and girl players in the state. This initiative came about after our deep research on the lack of opportunities for girls to play football in the state which was leading to declining interest and representation of the Goan girls in the national team. We estimated around 90 girls to register for the official draft and to our surprise we had 137 girls who submitted their applications and there were more who could not register before we went about the draft formalities on October 30.
The six clubs created their own identity for the women’s team finalised their teams which later was blessed by the presence of the Chief Minister of the State. And the women footballers had their own league anthem created by the ever passionate Varun Carvalho who celebrated the historic occasion.
Back in the office we got busy with the setting up of the league matches and the kick-off happened under the flood lights of the Duler Stadium, Mapusa. What each of around thousand spectators gathered for the opening match saw was pure class on the pitch. Not only the players but also the coaches of both the teams had put in so much of work in creating a great game of football and a classic goal that any team could be proud of. The league was set in motion and that too in style. I missed the first game of the Panjim Dolphins by Panjim Footballers but the news came fast and thick that a 16 year old girl had set the pitch on fire. Four brilliant goals by her and even the management of my company could not ignore the headlines on the sports page. Karishma Shirvoikar from Odxel had set her mark and announced her arrival on the big stage.
I had missed out on meeting Karishma on my visit to the Odxel village and later in her second match, I saw her play. Am a fan of this player and next time I meet her I am afraid I will act like one and a selfie is mandatory.
