Teen who helped girls from her slum learn football will get to meet international athletes at London Games
Apart from footballers, I am excited about meeting Indian athletes in London.
GULAFSHA ANSARI
MUMBAI: A 17-year- old national-level football player and Dharavi slum
resident will join three young American girl footballers at the Olympic
Games in London next month.
GULAFSHA ANSARI
KUNAL PATIL / HT Gulafsha Ansari (right) is all set to fly to London to watch the Olympics.
Gulafsha Ansari was selected via an online contest conducted by Julie
Foudy Sports Leadership Academy in the US, for her initiative to help
girls in her Muslim-majority neighbourhood learn to play football. “I
never thought I would be part of something as big as the Olympic Games,”
Ansari said on Saturday.
Ansari has been training in football under the ‘Sports for Development’ programme of non-profit organisation Magic Bus for six years. MUMBAI: Gulafsha Ansari, 17, got her first peek at London in a Bollywood film. In August, the Dharavi slum resident will not only visit the UK capital but also witness the Olympic Games.
Ansari, a national level football player, will join three young
American girl footballers to experience the sporting frenzy at the
Olympic Games. Ansari was selected with over 6,000 votes in an online
contest conducted by Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy (JFSLA) in
the United States, for her initiative to help girls in her
Muslim-majority locality to play football.
"I had never thought I would be part of something as big as the Olympic Games," said a shy Ansari on Saturday, as she prepared for her practice session at a ground in Reay Road. "Apart from the footballers, I am more excited to meet athletes from the Indian team in London," she said.
Magic Bus, a not-for-profit that works with underprivileged children, had sent a team of 12 Mumbai girls for JFSLA's annual summer camp in San Francisco last June. During the training, the team was encouraged to take up social programmes in their neighbourhoods. The girls took up the initiative on their return focusing on targeting issues such as smoking and child marriage. Ansari, who has been training in football under the 'Sports for Development' programme of the Magic Bus since she was 11, decided to help other girls in her locality play football.
She began with organising practice sessions at a ground near the
slum on Sundays. "When I first called the girls in my neighbourhood for
practice, only 10 showed up," said Ansari, a first year commerce
students at HR College. "My mother supported me by speaking to other
parents, and currently about 25 girls come for practice regularly," she
said.
"I had never thought I would be part of something as big as the Olympic Games," said a shy Ansari on Saturday, as she prepared for her practice session at a ground in Reay Road. "Apart from the footballers, I am more excited to meet athletes from the Indian team in London," she said.
Magic Bus, a not-for-profit that works with underprivileged children, had sent a team of 12 Mumbai girls for JFSLA's annual summer camp in San Francisco last June. During the training, the team was encouraged to take up social programmes in their neighbourhoods. The girls took up the initiative on their return focusing on targeting issues such as smoking and child marriage. Ansari, who has been training in football under the 'Sports for Development' programme of the Magic Bus since she was 11, decided to help other girls in her locality play football.
She began with organising practice sessions at a ground near the
slum on Sundays. "When I first called the girls in my neighbourhood for
practice, only 10 showed up," said Ansari, a first year commerce
students at HR College. "My mother supported me by speaking to other
parents, and currently about 25 girls come for practice regularly," she
said.
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