Afshan Ashiq: First Female Football Coach Of Kashmir

Afshan Ashiq played her first-ever football game seven years ago, in college. She was 19 then, already quite late from a professional standpoint. Prior to that she had played cricket and tried to get into the district cricket association. "I was dejected and planning to give up sports entirely when I was approached by a coach who thought that I would do well in pro football. But Kashmir had no professional football training or tournaments for women. So I started training with the Real Kashmir Football Club Men’s team," she reveals.

Ashiq was the only girl in Kashmir at that point who was training professionally in football. While the boys and the coaches were very supportive, spectators, onlookers and relatives were not. She was taunted, called names, her father was told his daughter was going astray playing with boys all day. But she didn’t care, "football had found me". Afshan Ashiq then started coaching the Real Kashmir FC Under 16 Boys team as well. "Being the only pro-trained player in the state was no good unless I had a team that I could take to the nationals to represent the state. By now enough girls were excited about playing pro football, but their parents would not let them train with male coaches."

Ashiq went to form her own Club for girls and started training them while continuing her own goalkeeper training with RKFC Boys Team. The plan was to get a team ready for the Indian Women’s League. she got her coaching license from AIFF and became the first female coach in Kashmir. She coached and trained all day, "but there was just no competitive play for us in Kashmir, and that didn’t help with the training. A tournament for girls was held once a year, that was it. I needed more challenge. Meanwhile, my parents were under enormous pressure from our community to reel me in and stop my football ambitions." This is just one part of her extraordinary story.

Afshan Ashiq talks to SheThePeople about the challenges she has braved to emerge as the face of football in the state of J&K, how gender bias can be ended in the sport, her advice to emerging women football players.

What was the turning point in your football career?

I got a Facebook message from someone saying he was a football scout, inviting me to come to Mumbai for a trial for a Football Leaders Academy. My parents were dead against it, they felt football was no career for a woman. And going to Mumbai alone at the behest of a stranger seemed like sacrilege to them. So I ran away. I wanted a shot at chasing my dream to play at a national level. In Mumbai, I tried contacting that scout for a week. There was no response. My friends in Mumbai told me there were no trials for the Football Leaders Academy. I didn’t give myself any time to feel bad, just started contacting football clubs. PIFA women’s club was doing selections and I made it. That was when everything changed for me.

Mothers who earlier said nasty things about me, now tell their daughters to follow in my footsteps: Afshan Ashiq

I started playing for PIFA and getting attention. Pretty soon the J&K Sports Minister contacted me and said that he was sanctioning the formation of a state women’s team and invited me to be the Captain. I had taken a long circuitous route to the goal that I had aimed for.

Is it easier for girls to join a football club in J&K now?

Much easier. There are 25 Football Clubs for girls now, and even Real Kashmir FC has a girls team. Mixed teams are also being formed as the outlook of the youngsters is different now. I was invited recently by Real Kashmir Men’s FC to goal keep for them at a tournament. It’s all good. Mothers who earlier said nasty things about me, now tell their daughters to follow in my footsteps.

Your advice to girls who want to play football or any other sport professionally

Be bold, dream bold. Verbalise your goals to the world. Not only does this work as a repeated affirmation, but it also inspires women and little girls around you. Ignore anyone who says you can’t do something because you’re a girl. Success in sport is hard work, make no mistake, especially in India. But if you love the sport, you enjoy every minute. Take chances, it can change your life. When Parents see you succeed, they come around. And that’s all that matters, right?

I feel that sports is a very effective medium that can be used to change society’s perception of women – what they can and cannot do: Afshan Ashiq

What’s the best way to handle gender bias in sport?

Challenge it. Force it into the public domain. An ex-coach of the Men’s National Football Team told me I was wasting my time when I was training as a goalkeeper in Kashmir, that I was too old to make it to the national team. I told him to give me a chance and let me prove him wrong. Today he calls me ‘Mini Hope Solo’. When the J&K sports minister was hesitant to allocate resources for female coaches when there were hardly any girls playing, I told him I would coach them and I did. I feel that sports is a very effective medium that can be used to change society’s perception of women – what they can and cannot do. Physical strength is overrated in sport, mental strength is as critical. And women are blessed with lots of it.

Any comment on the IWFA Girls Goals Cup?

What an excellent initiative. I am proud to be the IWFA ambassador and reach out to girls all over the country, tell them not to ever give up on their goals, whatever the goals may be. We are there to support you. You have a friend in IWFA.

Priya Mirchandani is a core member of the Indian Women’s Football Alliance. SheThePeople is a partner of IWFA.