By Tariqa Tandon
Recently, I talked to five young women based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, who come from marginalized backgrounds to tell me about the women who inspire them. These young women are recipients of a scholarship instituted by Pro Sport Development (PSD), in collaboration with KickOff Solutions, to encourage them to build their leadership skills, continue their participation in sports, and enable their dreams and aspirations.
The five young women – Anandita, Archana, Khadija, Subhashree and Supriya – were selected from PSD’s Community Sports Program, having shown leadership potential and an interest in using sports to drive social change.
Given that they are using sports to bring change in their communities, I asked them about the sportswomen who they look up to. Upon conversations with them, I realized that a limited number of sportswomen are role models for the current generation in India. But, I also realized that one doesn’t need to be an international sports superstar to inspire another person.
Who Inspires Young Women Today?
I asked the five young women a simple question – who is a sportswoman that you look up to or like? Anandita and Khadija immediately said Dutee Chand was their inspiration. Like them, Chand hails from Odisha, and both are proud to share Odia heritage with the international sprinter.
Anandita emphasized that it is Chand’s perseverance that inspires her. “She has faced a lot of difficulties [due to the gender testing rules], and when she disclosed that she is in a relationship with a woman, many people, including her family, stopped supporting her. But she persevered, and I like that about her. She inspires me never to give up, regardless of the circumstances.”
Khadija added, “Girls face a lot of barriers, especially when trying to play sports. But what she has done has paved the way for all other girls.” Khadija also said that P.V. Sindhu was an inspiration for her. She said Sindhu’s life story inspired her to continue with sports. Subhashree also noted P.V. Sindhu as her inspiration, saying, “Badminton is my favourite game, and I really like P.V. Sindhu. I try to watch all her matches. Her journey has been difficult, but she has still made a life and career for herself, and that inspires me.”
Archana, who has been a national-level weightlifter, said her inspiration was her senior named Padmini, who attended competitions across the country. She said that Padmini helped her break out of her shell when she was new to the sport: “I was very shy initially, and I would hesitate to participate. But, Padmini didi told me that women can do anything, and she helped me gain the confidence to continue weightlifting.”
A similar story was narrated by Supriya. When I asked her about her favourite sportswoman, she could not think of anyone famous. Instead, she said that her favourite sportswomen were her college friends with whom she played volleyball, “I really like playing volleyball with my friends in college, it is our favourite sport. Manisha is my closest friend, and we play a lot of volleyball together. I really enjoy that.”
The Need For Role Models
The conversations with these five young women highlighted two things for me: we are in dire need of more female sportswomen who can serve as role models to our young girls, and two, that often we can find role models in our everyday lives.
Even before I called the young women to talk to them about who inspires them, I was trying to think of how many sportswomen, especially Indian sportswomen, did I know of, off the top of my head. Of course, I came up with a couple more answers than what I got. But ask me about a sportsman, and I could name at least ten right off the bat.
It is telling about the Indian sports landscape that even in the 21st century, we only have a handful of sportswomen that our girls can look up to. Research has highlighted that female role models encourage more girls and young women to participate in and continue with the sport. It is vital that girls are able to see other girls and women playing sports so that they can also imagine themselves as athletes and sportspersons.
In a diverse country like India, this means women and girls from all walks of life, all parts of the country, all religions and all castes are represented in the sport. Especially for these marginalized young women from Odisha, it is essential for them to see someone like them making it big in sports or moving ahead in life because of sports. Indeed, that is why two of them mentioned Dutee Chand – she is Odia like them, and they can relate to her background and struggles.
On the other hand, the responses by Archana and Supriya pleasantly surprised me – it made me realize that women in our everyday lives can be role models and inspire us. For Archana, she would not have succeeded without Padmini didi’s help in building her confidence and realizing that gender should not hold her back. And, for Supriya, the simple act of playing volleyball with Manisha is enough to motivate her and inspire her to continue playing sports.
Indeed, when asked which other women inspire them, most of them responded by saying their mothers were their role models – their ability to keep the household and family together, often while also juggling a job, was inspiring. For Archana, her inspiration in everyday life is a woman who is like a mother figure to her, who taught her a lot about life when she left home and taught her about gender equality.
Sports For Confidence
Sports and physical activity are not just about excellence – they are mechanisms through which we can develop in a myriad of ways. For example, sports can be an excellent way for young people to become more confident and build their self-esteem if designed well.
This is highly important for girls, whose confidence levels often drop in comparison to their male counterparts when they hit puberty. Sport, then, can be a way for girls to build their confidence during an incredibly volatile time in their lives.
This is our vision at PSD. We are an India-based social enterprise working towards the holistic development of marginalized children and youth in India to build them up as confident and competent individuals. We focus on the inclusion of girls in our programmes, ensuring near-equal participation of girls in all programming. For example, through our community-based sports programmes in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, we have worked with over 3,000 children and youth since 2015, with 46% being girls.
Tariqa Farrell Tandon is the Team Lead: Knowledge and Communications at Pro Sport Development.