As many as eight female footballers of Bangladesh’s Saff Championship winning squad hail from Kalsindur and adjacent areas of Mymensingh. Having overcome social obstacles and indifferent attitude towards women’s football, the eight girls have gone from strength to strength, dominating the local scene before reigning supreme in international competitions as well.
Here is the first part of the two-part special series on the Kalsindur girls and the difficulties they have conquered en route to becoming South Asia’s best:
The girls of Kalsindur school and adjacent areas are now more confident, either walking the streets or kicking football on the field.
Those who mocked once stopped and some of them spread their hands of support.
Constant success stories of Kalsindur girls in the past decade have not only changed people’s attitude towards women’s football, but also the lives of eight footballers of Kalsindur school - Maria Manda, Sanjida Akter, Tahura Khatun, Shamsunnahar, Sheuli Azim, Sajeda Khatun, Marzia Akter and Shamsunnahar Jr.
Kalsindur is one of 19 villages located in Gamaritola union of Dhobaura upazila in Mymensingh.
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Two players live in Kalsindur while the remaining six come from different villages of Gamaritola like Mandirgona, Muktagacha and Ranipur.
Tahura hails from Muktagacha. She has four sisters and one brother.
She used to hunt birds and catch fish as a child. Besides, she helped her farmer father in agricultural works.
“I was mad about sports. I played football with younger brothers of my village. Then I got chance in school football team. My parents and elder siblings didn’t like me playing at the beginning but when my mother saw my passion for football, she started supporting me,” Tahura told Dhaka Tribune.
Kalsindur school became hat-trick champions in Bangamata Gold Cup school football tournament from 2013 to 2015.
The girls gained popularity in the locality and gradually it reached a new height after they emerged champions in different international competitions.
Tahura with the Saff Championship trophy
“The neighbors and other people of the locality questioned my parents and siblings why I play football. Now they are proud of me. They came to my house to congratulate me after winning the Saff Championship,” added Tahura.
Like other champion girls of Kalsindur school, it is for Tahura that her family is now financially stable.
The diminutive forward bought a land of 16 katha with the money she earned from football.
She is also contributing towards building a new house beside the old tin-shed one.
But yet, her father and elder brothers ask her to stop playing football just when she is stepping into the professional level.
Shamsunnahar Jr also managed to buy some land (14 katha) for her family and is planning to build a new house too. She also lives in Muktagacha.
Family of two brothers and three sisters, Shamsunnahar Jr’s mother died in 2014. Her father and brothers didn’t like her playing football.
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“My father and elder brothers prohibited me from playing football. I used to play secretly but when they knew they rebuked me. Sometimes, my brothers beat me physically. Now everything has changed.” Shamsunnahar Jr told Dhaka Tribune.
“Relatives still say many things about me but I don’t listen to them anymore.
“Our financial condition was very bad when I started playing. My father was a farmer. We merely had our food and couldn’t afford studying and buying sports equipment. Now I can stand beside my family and I’m happy for that.”
Efforts were made to talk to the rest of the six players but they couldn’t be reached over phone despite repeated attempts.
The story of Maria is already well documented.
Her mother used to sell labor on other people’s lands while Maria also worked as day laborer to buy her first pair of boots.
Former assistant teacher of Kalsindur Government Primary School, Mafiz Uddin coached the Kalsindur school team from 2011-17 Her family too is now comparatively more stable.
Mafiz Uddin, former assistant teacher of Kalsindur Government Primary School, coached the Kalsindur school from 2011 to 2017.
He knows the whereabouts of all eight footballers.
He informed that Marzia’s father was a rickshaw puller but not anymore, and now he cultivates his own land.
Fathers of Shamsunnahar and Sheuli also worked on other’s lands but now they have their own.
Only Sanjida comes from a middle-class family.
“Most of them come from low-earning families but now they are well off. It was for them that electricity arrived in nine villages. Many people didn’t like girls playing football but now they praise them. Boy footballers are also doing well after seeing the girls succeed,” Mafiz told Dhaka Tribune.
Not only the financial condition but the food habits and mindset of Kalsindur girls have also changed.
They have adjusted to new diet at the year-long Bangladesh Football Federation camp.
They used to talk very little but can now speak their heart out.
