There exists no parallel to the focus, dynamism and dedication that goes into the making of a great sportsperson. The drive to excel is necessary, the hard work paramount and the struggle real. This struggle gets even more pronounced for sportswomen, especially in the case of India, the country that fails to fit the image of a sporty woman into its feminine stereotypes.
While we as a country continue to conveniently overlook our sportswomen, that doesn’t undo the fact that they are very much a part of our sport landscape. Thus, ahead of National Sports Day, IWB decided to document and share the narratives of these gritty women to bring to them the much deserved attention and accolades.
We took a sneak peek into what goes down before a game and after a tough loss or a jubilant win. We also found out what happens in ‘The Locker Room,’ the safe room where the gloves come off and they huddle together for “The Talk” which prepares them for the battle ahead.
The locker room is the bosom where the hopes, fears and aspirations of these women are nurtured. IWB thus ventured into these sacred spaces and became a part of their intimate dialogues.
We connected with the Indian women’s Rugby, Ice Hockey, Football and Kabaddi teams and through expansive and comprehensive conversations tried to get acquainted with them. In the process we learned a lot about the women sports in our country as well as our lack of knowledge pertaining them.
To begin with, we shared with them a common questionnaire, so as to get to core of their spirits and understand the basic challenges faced by them.
Want to find out how much you know about your sportswomen? Read on:
Describe your team in three words
Rugby Team: strong , passionate, resilient
Football Team: passionate, inspired, skilled
Kabaddi Team: strong , fast & passionate
Ice Hockey Team: Persistent, Motivated, Friendly
What motivational words do you tell each other that bring you in the spirit of the game?
Rugby Team: No compromise, only bhatabhat!
Football Team: Every game is a new game and a new opportunity to make your team proud, so step on the field and give the best you have.
Kabaddi Team: Char (4 ) pe ek (1 )
Ice Hockey Team: We have worked too hard and too long to let anything stand between us. We will play our level best until the last second of each game.
What is that o ne victorious experience that continues to inspire you?
Rugby Team: When we won 6 matches out of 7 in Laos.
Football Team: Winning the South Asian Games in 2016 after defeating Nepal in the finals.
Kabaddi Team: Winning the Asian Championship Gold Medal.
Ice Hockey Team: Our first international win against Philippines.
One Quote that your team lives by?
Rugby Team: “Great things never come from the comfort zone.”
Football Team: “The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.”
Kabaddi Team: “Little pain – no pain”
Ice Hockey Team: “Dream big, work hard and stay focused.”
The dream your team is chasing right now?
Rugby Team: Taking our ranking up
Football Team: Coming out as champions of the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifiers, Round 1
Kabaddi Team: Asian Games gold medal
Ice Hockey Team: It’s a step by step process, we want to win the first place at the Women’s Challenge Cup of Asia and hopefully our successors will play at a world stage.
Few songs that pump your team up?
Rugby Team: Tennu suit suit krda
Football Team: Our National Anthem, Aashayen, Badal pe paaon hai
Kabaddi Team: Chal mor de uska panja re, Dj bravo champion, Salam India
Ice Hockey Team: Chak de India, Who run the world – Beyonce
Your message as a team to your audience in the stadium who cheer for you?
Rugby Team: For a sport like ours, support is a very integral part, as it is for any sport. It is not only the 7 or 15 girls on the field but it is every individual who is on our side in our team helping us be stronger as one big unit.
Football Team: Your support is as important as winning the game, the louder you cheer for us the stronger becomes our grit to win.
Kabaddi Team: Go for Gold, we want gold.
Ice Hockey Team: Believe in us and support us. Make our dreams yours so that we can together bring glory for our country.
One challenge that stands in front of you as a team?
Rugby Team: Our biggest challenge when it comes to playing other countries is our size. We’re much smaller than they are. Although, what we lack in size, we make up for in other areas.
Football Team: Current challenge is to qualify for Olympic.
Kabaddi Team: To be calm and cool during match.
Ice Hockey Team: Not being able to practice throughout the year is the biggest challenge that we are facing at the moment. We see the players from other countries practicing right after the tournament finishes while we wait for winters to approach so that the ponds and reservoirs would freeze.
Words you use the most while discussing the game?
Rugby Team: We can and we will do it, we will support each other.
Football Team: Technical words of soccer such as man marking, counter attack, build up, rebound, and ball possession.
Kabaddi Team: Be Champion
Ice Hockey Team: We will play as if it’s the last game of our lives.
We at IWB believe that every sports team deserves an anthem! In this effort, our exceptionally talented in-house Vocalist/songwriter Komal Panwar will sculpt a very personal anthem for the team by compiling information from this questionnaire. This song will reflect their passion while encompassing their essence and energies.
EPIC TV Channel presents to you our campaign ‘The Locker Room.’ The channel is connecting culture between centuries by bringing out our inner Arjuna and is breathing life into the centuries-old epic warriors to create the new age champions of the four National Women’s Sports Teams,
A big shout-out to our partners – Oateo Oats, HRX, Gold’s Gym India for joining us in solidarity and helping us in exploring the challenging road for sportswomen and what drives them to keep going, with their spirits intact and the heads held high.
Stay tuned for our Twitter dialogues, exclusive interviews with the team captains and the custom made anthems. We have more sports rush coming your way!