Tag: Womens Football

Anantapur U18 Girls League Is A Huge Success

In December 2015, Rural Development Trust’s (RDT) Anantapur Sports Academy (ASA) kicked off the first ever Anantapur Football League (AFL) for girls. Although the Girls AFL came to an end in the first week of February 2016, the initiative has given girls and young women in Anantapur a definitive and bright future in football in India.

In the group stages, each team had to play six games, with the top two teams in each group qualifying for the knock-out round to be played at ASA’s Anantapur Sports Village (ASV). The knock-out stage was scheduled in such a way, that the matches ended well before the athletes needed to prepare for their end-of-year exams. This meant that the players, their parents, coaches, and team managers could focus enough attention on the sport, without having to constantly worry about exam woes.

AFL Girls Final

Action from the 1st AFL Girls Final between Atmakur & Kalyandurg
Source: ASA

Continue reading

Have You Met Indi Cowie?

Indi Cowie Football Freestyler

Indi Cowie
Image Courtesy: Indi Cowie on Twitter

  • Age 12: Started football freestyling
  • Age 15: The only female in the Red Bull Street Style Event Finals
  • Age 15: Half-time freestyle performance in front of over 75,000 people at Old Trafford during a game between Manchester United and Chelsea
  • Age 16: Featured on ESPN as a role model for women freestylers
  • Age 16: Got 3 caps for the Scotland Under-17 Women’s Football Team
  • Age 16-17: – Played for Celtic FC in the Scottish Women’s Premier League (SWPL)
  • Age 18: Picked by Lionel Messi (wha?!?!) as the EA Sports FIFA Street World Street Champion when he selected Indi’s video as the best example of football freestyle in the world
  • Age 18: Suffers anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that ends her professional football career, but not her freestyling.
  • Age 20: Endorsed to become a Nike Athlete as recognition of her tremendous freestyling skills
  • And, wait for it….

Continue reading