In the past few days, a viral photo has been making rounds on social media where a smiling old rickshaw-puller is seen along with his beaming daughter, her hands wrapped around a shiny trophy on his rickshaw.
Roksana, the girl in the photo, is a sixth grader from Panchrukhi Government Primary School and a proud member of the team that won the recently concluded Bangamata Gold Cup Primary School Football Tournament 2019.
Roksana and her team beat the girls from Tepurgari BK Government Primary School, Lalmonirhat by a solitary goal in the grand finale to be crowned champion of the tournament.
The fairytale victory is being celebrated by the entire village of Panchrukhi, Mymensingh.
However, the road to their success wasn't paved in gold but was filled with hurdles they had to overcome.
When asked about their journey, assistant coach Delwar Hossain Ujjal shared that the girls toiled hard for three years in order to achieve this feat.
Ujjal suggested that it wouldn't have been possible without the effort of their parents and that of the Mymensingh Football Association.
Haripur from Sylhet and Panchrukhi from Mymensingh emerged as the winners of the Bangabandhu and Bangamata Gold Cup Tournament respectively, after winning over their respective opponents in the finals held at Bangabandhu National Stadium Thursday.https://t.co/rsBl2U9rhk#BFF
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) April 4, 2019
When the team were receiving the trophy from the hands of the honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a member, third grader Panna Akter told the PM, “Dadi, we don't have a field. Please allocate a field for us.”
While talking to this reporter, Panna shared that their school field is too small and unfit for practice, and that the team have to travel seven to eight kilometers to practice.
The chief architect of their success is none other than coach Moqbul Hossain, who is also known for his efforts behind the recent success of women's football in Bangladesh.
It was Moqbul who introduced the wonder girls from Kalsindur Government Primary School, 10 of whom now don the national colors.
“In total, 14 girls in the national and age-level teams have been trained by me,” shared Moqbul, proudly.
“The girls of our country are very talented - with a little help, they can go miles,” he added.
The coach revealed how he started with only 15 girls from Panchrukhi, and formed a team that went onto become runners-up in their first attempt, “More and more girls started to join the practice after we became runners-up. Currently, there are 46 school girls training under my supervision.”
Action from the final between Panchrukhi and Tepurgari BK Government Primary School Lalmonirhat Dhaka Tribune/Md Manik
“Their parents, too, deserve credit since some of them hail from the poorest of backgrounds. For some, it would cost Tk50 to travel to nearby Chandipasha Government School in Nandail for practice but they would send their girls regardless of their hardships,” said Moqbul while talking about the crucial role of the parents.
On April 10, the girls were honored by Dr Subhash Chandra Biswas, deputy commissioner of Mymensingh who promised that the local administration will actively look for sponsors to facilitate the use of government-owned land for their practice.
If they fail to find one, the administration will take on the responsibility to do it themselves.
Present at the event was the general secretary of Mymensingh District Football Association, Arif Mohammad Ahsanullah who, too, promised to provide necessary support to the Panchrukhi girls.
The coaches and officials believe that at least two to three girls from the team will be selected for different age-level national teams this year.
Fifth grader Promi Akter Tasmi, the scorer of the lone goal in the final who also happens to be the captain of the team, dreams to play in the national team in the future.
When asked about how it feels to be champion, Promi exclaimed, “We are extremely happy!”
The entire district of Mymensingh shares their happiness.
The story was contributed by Hasan Jamil, Mymensingh Correspondent