Hoshiarpur, India: Manisha Kalyan’s sparse home and village give no indication that he would ever produce one of India’s finest footballers.
But Kalyan is a tough girl and on Thursday the 20-year-old Cyprus champions Apollon Ladies became the first Indian participant to compete in the UEFA Women’s Champions League in the first qualifying round.
Kalyan’s transition from a teenage athlete to a sought-after professional footballer happened gradually over seven years.
“I was into sprinting and basketball. After training, I played football with the boys. One day my coach saw me kicking the ball and asked me if I wanted to play football. I said yes,” Kalyan told Al Jazeera by phone from Limassol.
In November 2021, Kalyan made headlines when she scored for India against Brazil in a four-nation tournament in Manaus.
Even though India lost 6-1, Kalyan’s achievement went down in history books.
She made her debut for India’s senior team aged 17 in January 2019 against Hong Kong. In the 2019 AFC Women’s Under-19 Championship qualifier, she scored a hat-trick in India’s 18-0 victory over Pakistan.
Kalyan also played a key role in India’s 1-0 victory over Thailand.
The Football Association of India named her Emerging Player of the Year in 2020-21. Earlier this month, Kalyan was named Footballer of the Year for the 2021-22 season.
Brahmjit Singh, 52, was the coach who spotted Kalyan’s talent as a physical education teacher at the government middle school in his village of Muggowal.
“Manisha’s footwork was amazing. I convinced the headmistress to meet her parents. Her father was happy to hear about her talents and allowed me to train her,” Brahmjit told Al Jazeera.
While Brahmjit’s training helped her get selected for the district team, Kalyan had to say goodbye to athletics.
“Since then, no sport other than football has given me pleasure,” Kalyan said.
Her father, Narinder Pal, 60, was in astrology and real estate brokerage and had sold cosmetics before an accident in 2012 left him half paralyzed.
He was landed with a hospital bill of 800,000 Indian rupees ($15,000 in 2012) which forced him to sell his land.
“I gave her the freedom to choose whatever she wanted,” he said, sitting in his living room, which doubles as a bedroom.
“When she said she wanted to play football, I said there was no women’s football team in our village. She said she would play alone.
But Kalyan playing football with boys did not please the villagers.
“People started talking, and I said ‘no worries’. Boys and girls have equal rights. Manisha went to tournaments in distant villages with the boys’ teams. Ten boys and one girl,” Pal added.
During a boys’ tournament, Kalyan tied a towel around her hair to look masculine, but it came loose during the match and she was discovered.
“But nobody made a problem. Instead, they congratulated me,” she said.
Her mother, Rajkumari, 55, remembers Kalyan as a naughty and stubborn child.
“I never asked him to do the dishes and wash the clothes. She was always very active and loved aloo ka paratha [potato-stuffed Indian bread]. When people spoke, I told them that the girls were no less. I gave her money for household expenses so she could play tournaments elsewhere,” she told Al Jazeera.
His older sister, Sonam, said Kalyan didn’t even have a proper football kit.
“She kept a worn-out boot for a long time, says Brahmjit [her coach] bought, and it’s a lucky charm. At other times, Teja Singh, a British businessman from the village, helped.
Sonam, 32, worked as a domestic helper and cook. After losing both jobs during the COVID-19 closures, she now works as a security guard at King Edward Public School.
She said Kalyan didn’t shy away from fighting with other kids, adding that “we couldn’t afford a special sports diet for her, she was thriving on home-cooked food.”
“When she took the sport seriously, she cycled four kilometers (2.5 miles) a day to the gymnasium in Mahilpur.”
Despite her travels, Kalyan says she only finds true joy hanging out with people she has known since childhood.
“I am very close to my family and my friends. Beyond football, my parents, my sisters and education are important things in my life.
“When I played in Oorja Cup for Border Security Force, an officer asked me if I could play for Kenkre FC Mumbai in Indian Women League (IWL). I said I wanted permission of the family.
His family were initially reluctant to send him to distant clubs, according to Priya PV, the head coach of Gokulam FC, for whom Kalyan played three seasons in the IWL.
“I approached Vijay Bali from the Punjab Football Association to convince his parents. Players at the start of their career usually do not refuse officials from their local associations.
Priya added that there was a talent shortage in Gokulam when the IWL started.
“So we chased them to other states because a lot of them hadn’t been signed by the clubs. Some of my colleagues objected to making such an offer to a junior player. I also took into account his family situation. But of course, I trusted her as a player. She is very obedient and flexible.
In addition to Kalyan’s circumstances of poverty, she also had to overcome psychological barriers.
“Earlier this year, I felt very unmotivated at the Indian camp. I wanted to give my best, but that was not the case. There were doubts about whether to do it this way or that way.
His eldest, Indian goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan, told him about those days.
“Aditi asked me what happened. When I told her about my fears, she asked me why I started gambling. When I said it was to find pleasure, she told me to go find that pleasure. She told me to keep trying and never give up. I felt high again. I started replaying how I started, how I survived, how I got to where I am.
Mahilpur is considered India’s football hotbed, with its schools and academies producing hundreds of male players for police, state and national teams.
“Sometimes girls also became players but Manisha’s achievement was beyond anything,” Jaspal Singh, a certified sports trainer and headmaster of SGGS Khalsa College in Mahilpur, told Al Jazeera.
In Paldi, near the village of Kalyan, the Sant Attar Singh Khalsa Secondary School, where Manisha joined in ninth grade, houses a free sports hostel where dozens of young footballers are trained.
“Training for the girls takes place before the boys. Kalyan never arrived late for the 7 a.m. practice. She reached the ground either by bicycle or by bus,” recalls Principal Shiv Kumar.
A year later, Kalyan represented India U-17.
“Possibility to build careers”
Although the Indian women’s team was among the best teams in Asia from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, there was a lull until the 2010 SAFF Women’s Championship gold medal and the four editions of the championship that followed.
In 2016, the AIFF launched the IWL, encouraging major clubs to form women’s teams.
“Previously, players would retire after a few games for their states and universities. They now have the opportunity to build their career. There is also growth in viewership, sponsors and media attention,” said sports journalist Hubaib Kurukkanat.
“Foreign clubs signing Indian players is an indication.”
Kurukkanat predicts that Indian women will participate in a FIFA World Cup ahead of the men’s team and this can spur growth locally.
India is also set to host the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in October.
As she once again enters the history books, Kalyan has kept her eyes firmly on her personal and team goals.
“One day I want to play for the biggest club in the world. I also want to see my national team play in the World Cup,” said Manisha, who religiously watches YouTube videos of her heroes Ronaldinho, Brazil, and Russia. ‘Argentinian Lionel Messi.