Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts

Nadiya Nighat becomes first female professional football coach in Kashmir, runs her own team

Nadiya Nighat is only 21 years old. Even at this tender age, she has created history in the field of football in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

By Sujata Sarkar
Nadiya Nighat becomes first female professional football coach in Kashmir, runs her own team

Srinagar, Aug 23: Nadiya Nighat is only 21 years old. Even at this tender age, she has created history in the field of football in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Nadiya has not only become the only professional coach in Kashmir but also set up a football team for both boys and girls. She has named her team JJSeven, following her favorite CR7.

Nadiya used to play football with a cricket ball at the age of three. She smiles and reveals that she did not even know the size of football that time.

Her father is a mechanical engineer. But Nadiya who is fondly called by her students 'Jiya Jan' had to overcome with lot of obstacles from her community in her early days.

Talking to MyKhel from Rambagh in Kashmir on Tuesday, she said, "I did not stop playing football and the whole credit should go to my parents as well as other family members. I did not get any girl footballer to accompany me that time. So I used to play with boys at a local ground."

Despite having represented school national football championships twice, Nadiya could not continue playing the game because there were no competitive ladies football teams in Kashmir that time.

Nadiya explained, "When I was getting anxious about the future of my football career, one of the well wishers named Intekhab Alam advised me to shift my focus to football coaching. I was studying at Amar Singh College at that time."

Ever since Nadiya did not look back. She earned D license degree from All India Football Federation (AIFF) last year. In the beginning of this year, Nadiya finished coaching degree from NIS.

Along with coaching degree, Nadiya also completed courses on referring. In between, in a bid to keep her dreams of football alive, Nadiya introduced coaching center on grass root program at Rambagh, as well as built up a team with both boys and girls.

She said, "My dream is to produce footballers of international class. I will be the happiest person if one of my girl footballers represents India which has not been possible for me."

Story first published: Wednesday, August 23, 2017, 16:58 [IST]
Other articles published on Aug 23, 2017