Bend It Like Nighat

- Nikita Sawant

A 10-year-old Nadiya Nighat played football for the first time with a bunch of boys from her neighbourhood. She loved kicking the ball around so much, that it was all she wanted to do. But the love affair was formalised only later. “I got serious about football in 2007, when I met Coach Mohammad Abdullah. He’s the only coach I’ve trained under and whatever I am today is because of him. Even today, if I’m having difficulties with my game, I go to him for guidance.” This fortuitous meeting happened at the Amar Singh College Academy, Srinagar, where Nighat was the only girl in a class of 48.

“Earlier, when I would step out of my house to play, my neighbours and relatives would say things like, ‘You’re a girl, you shouldn’t play football’, but today, the same people are proud of my achievements and give me their blessings. In fact, my father supported me more than my mother. Eventually, however, she realised that I was actually good at it.”