Why it sucks to play sport and be a girl

The October of last year brings back bitter memories for 17yearold nationallevel athlete Apoorva Pawar An FYBCom student at HR College Pawar who was participating at the West Zone Nationals had attended the opening ceremony in Raipur Chhattisgarh where some of the athletes including her were to receive medals for the 100m races in the under14 and under20 categories that had taken place earlier But while the ceremony was on we were told that the chief guests all of whom were key dignitaries in Raipur would only give out medals to the boysWatch the video hererecalls Pawar who bagged a silver in the 100m We were shocked and threw a fit To assuage us they called us backstage and gave us the medals in our hands But we had earned it just like anybody else Was the podium only for the boys she asks when we meet her on a weekday evening during a training session at the Mumbai University Ground in Marine Lines I have never faced this but I can believe that these things happen 16yearold fellow sprinter Kiana Mehta adds when Pawar relays the incident The duo is among 10 female sportspersons featured in 17yearold Mumbaigirl Nandita Anands nine minuteshort Ready Set Girl which explores what it takes to be a young woman in sportsNandita Anands in blue nine minuteshort Ready Set Girl has already been seen by many of Mumbais sportspersons A statelevel sprinter Anand quit sports three years ago because of asthma Pic Ashish RajeAnand a selftaught filmmaker currently studying at Hill Spring International School in Tardeo is a statelevel sprinter herselfmdashshe ran 100 and 200m while in school She quit sports three years ago because she had stopped enjoying it as much I had asthma and would get really stressed before the races I did not quite like that anxiety she says Anand instead chose to hone her filmmaking skills and her talent is visible on her YouTube page too where she has posted nearly 25 videos As a summer project this year I decided to take up something more serious she says I figured it had to be athletics because firstly its something I feel strongly about and secondly coming from an all girls school JB Petit High School for Girls Fort where feminism is the norm I thought it was important to talk about certain issues that concern usThe documentary while highlighting the encouraging participation by girls in athletics also spells out the reasons why many find it difficult to stick on dropping out before the age of 17 This however isnt endemic to India aloneIn 2016 after 25 years of research Womens Sports Foundationmdashfounded by American tennis player Billie Jean Kingmdashhad stated that by age 14 many girls were dropping out of sports at two times the rate of boys In the same year a study conducted by the International Centre For Research and Women ICRW in Dholpur Rajasthan pointed out that when girls were asked whether they play sports 54 per cent between ages 12 and 14 said yes This percentage declined to 30 among girls aged 1516 While globally the reasons range from lack of opportunities poor safety and transport issues social stigma and gender bias in India the very same problems get amplifiedUnfair treatmentA still from the film Ready Set Girl Pic courtesy Nandita Anand YouTubePawar has lived and breathed athletics for nearly 10 years This is part of her identity she says I didnt spend all that time for nothing Yet she has now decided to quit competing professionally in order to focus on studying to become a chartered accountant I will continue training but I dont see a future she says despite accruing innumerable medals The wide wagegap when compared to male sportspersons means that shed rather pursue a career where job security and pay is guaranteedSeher Patel another nationallevel athlete who featured in the documentary and is a Class XII student at The Cathedral And John Connon School Fort doesnt have plans to quit anytime soon But the future she says is uncertain It all depends on how the next few years pan outmdashwhether I get selected for the Asian Games or Commonwealth I am hoping to do my best but athletics is very competitive as a sport she says adding that unfortunately on most occasions she finds herself on her ownPatel explains that while at the school level at least the opportunities for girls are on par with the boys as they get older the participation by girls drops significantly due to which opportunities shrink too Last weekend I was representing my school in the U19 800m race organised by the Bombay City District Amateur Athletics Association and I was the only participant Its really no fun she says The scope for competition then hardly ever arisesThe abysmal facilities are a bigger disincentive Once when I had gone for a nationallevel event we had a pit in the name of a bathroom and a tent to cover it with sanitary pads lying all around remembers Patel In Mumbai in fact there is a ground in Kandivli where there are no doors to the womens toilet adds PawarIndian cricketer Jemimah Rodrigues who has played hockey for Mumbai U19 and state U17 recalls an incident when travelling for a tournament by train Eighteen of us had to squeeze into five seats along with kit bags Indian cricket allrounder Jemimah Rodrigues who also played hockey for Mumbai U19 and Maharashtra U17 and had to take the tough decision to switch to cricket because she did better at it feels that sometimes the nature of the sport determines the treatment the sportsperson receives Some years ago when we were travelling for a hockey tournament by train 18 of us had to squeeze into five confirmed seats along with our kit bags During district matches too we would stay in classrooms with poor toilet facilities It was very difficult for us but wed still do it because of our love for the game Cricketers on the other hand get better facilitiesMehta who studies at Jai Hind feels that clothing is also a major issue that sports authorities need to address Women should be allowed to wear whatever they are comfortable in when running so that they arent conscious of themselves Even in a city like Mumbai you get stared at all the time adds districtlevel 16yearold sprinter Naia Moutounet who will continue to train in Paris when she leaves later this yearFootball coach Gulafsha Ansari 22 who rose to fame after participating at the 2010 FIFA World Cups Football for Hope says shersquod often be taunted for wearing shorts by neighbours Had it not been for support from her mom pursuing the sport would have been toughFootballer and coach Gulafsha Ansari 22 the Dharavi star who rose to fame after participating at the 2010 FIFA World Cups Football for Hope remembers being at the receiving end of taunts by her neighbours for wearing shorts As a Muslim girl I faced a lot of stigmaFortunately my mother supported me She said I could play in shorts but only in the field and not outsideChain reactionFormer India hockey player Happy Phul Mann 54 says that she relates with most of the concerns raised in the documentary The district and statelevel hockey tournaments for school girls in Mumbai are very haphazard and chaotic What we have observed at the districtlevel games in particular is that they try to wrap up the entire tournament in just two days finishing a game in ten minutes flat Fortunately statelevel games have become slightly organised But the foundation she explains is weakNew rules at the college level have further uprooted good talent says Mann Earlier post Class X students could apply to colleges under the sports quota Now they all have to apply in the open category So students playing a team sport get thrown to different colleges Sometimes those playing individual sports also dont find patronage in the college where they take admissionUntil a few years ago there was a three per cent quota for students winning first or second position at district state and nationallevel sports This was dicontinued two years agoHenry Menezes CEO at the Western India Football AssociationHenry Menezes CEO at the Western India Football Association feels that women sports has always been given stepmotherly treatment Unless you play for India you dont enjoy fivestar luxuries But how else can you make any sport attractive he asks The lack of professional events only leaves many of the female sportspersons disillusioned Menezes says In a 12month calendar you need to have at least 40 to 50 matches for the footballers to improve their skill and technique But girls dont end up playing more than 1015 matches a yearHockey is faring far worse says Mann who also umpired for the Asian Games in 1986 and 1990 Apart from the events organised by the Mumbai School Sports Association MSSA Mann says that the current number of local tournaments stand at zero As per the rule there has to be a 6040 ratio of menwomen in any body controlling a sport The hockey body Mumbai Hockey Association in Mumbai doesnt have a single woman Our argument then is that they should at least do something for womens sport At present besides a few tournaments organised privately there is nothing for our hockey players The junior and womens league popular in the 1980s and the Bombay Gold Cup for women dont happen anymoreJoshua Lewis CEO of the Kenkre Football Club says that the lack of opportunities and exposure has kept the participation of women to a bare minimum Despite running the club for the last 20 years Lewis only gets around 40 girlswomen for every thousand male participants The filtration process of sportspersons dropping out young is not a gender specific issue It is only highly visible in women sports because they are significantly lesser in numberThe way forwardWith the FIFA U17 Womens Football World Cup scheduled for 2020mdashMumbai is likely to be one of the venuesmdashthere will be greater visibility for the sport says Lewis Seeing is believing Watching that level of commitment translate on field will motivate a lot of young girls to take up the sport His club will also be starting an agespecific serious programme for girls aspiring to be footballers where they will have a dedicated coach training them throughout the year with all amenities being provided We have had this programme for boys for the last 19 years but we never had enough female participants to extend it to them Around 25 girls have finally shown interest The wave has begun I feel opportunities will come up if we nurture this talentFormer India hockey player Happy Phul Mann says organisers of districtlevel games wrap up entire tournaments in just two days Pic Ashish RajeMenezes says encouraging club culture in all sports could also help draw more participation from women You have to start creating more and more opportunities at every level for them You also need to be flexible In smaller towns parents are hesitant to have their daughters play because they dont want them to wear shorts We said Bas shoes hona chahiye kaunse bhi avatar main khelo Thats how you motivate them Around five years ago we had the Maha Yudh and 21000 students came out to play many of them were young girls who were playing in salwaar kameezThere is also a need to expand the scope of ones sporting career not limiting it to playing on the field says Menezes WIFA was the first to introduce the Dlicence in 2011 which allows footballers to become coaches as young as 18 The licence is recognised by the All India Football Federation We have around 100 plus women who have got their licence from us This has opened up employment opportunities for them Some are earning Rs 40000Rs 50000 per month he saidFrom his own experience Ravi Bagdi secretary of MSSAs athletics wing feels that women athletes are far more disciplined and resultoriented than men Indian women are doing extremely well in Olympics sports Dutee Chand and Hima Das are the best example Because of these sporting heroines the awareness has increased across Maharashtra and so has the representation he says Bagdi disagrees with the idea that there arent enough opportunities for girls We have the same number of events for boys as we have for girls I think it is academic pressure that is causing many of them to leave the game The need of the hour is to open the sporting platform where students both boys and girls can specialise in sportrelated disciplines like sports science psychology nutrition and physiotherapy Nobody can do this better than a sportsperson 40The no of female footballers for every 1000 male participants that Joshua Lewis CEO of the Kenkre Football Club gets15Maximum no of matches female football players get to play in a year compared to the minimum of 40 that they need to improve their skillsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates