Women, Haryana, and Football. This is a set of words that many communities won’t be able to process together. But this combination produced Manisha Kalyan, who became the first Indian woman to play in the UEFA Champions League. However, the state of Haryana didn’t have a Women’s League before the All India Football Federation announced that there would be an Indian Women’s League 2. City Bahadurgarh FC emerged as the inaugural champions, thus becoming the first team to represent Haryana in the IWL 2.
City Bahadurgarh FC, invincible in Haryana
Commencing on March 22, IWL 2 will have a total of 15 teams divided into three groups and matches will be played at centralized venues. From Haryana, the champion of the Haryana Women’s League was nominated for participation. In a six-team league with a double round-robin format, each team was slated to play 10 games in the HWL. Come the final game, both City Bahadurgarh FC and FC Alakhpura were unbeaten and the winner would have taken the championship.
In their home game, Bahadurgarh salvaged a draw against a rampant opponent and took home the trophy. Finishing with a remarkable record of 8 wins, 2 draws, and 0 losses, Bahadurgarh edged past Alakhpura (7 wins, 3 draws, 0 losses) by a margin of two points. The club from Jhajjar is placed in Group C of the IWL 2, which is slated to be hosted in Goa.
In ten matches, Bahadurgarh netted an impressive 38 goals while conceding a mere three. Their standout victory came against Bunkerhill Gurgaon, with a remarkable 13-goal haul in their first game against the club. They had to settle for draws in their encounters with title rivals Alakhpura on both occasions they faced each other. Now, they face a challenging battle for a coveted spot in the IWL at the Nagoa Stadium. Among their competitors in Group C are FC Tuem from Goa, SAG FA from Gujarat, Khad FC from Himachal, and Celtic Queens from Pondicherry.
Coming to the team itself, the Bahadurgarh-based club was officially registered in 2023. They operate teams for both men and women starting from the age of six. On the morning of IFTWC’s visit, they held a trial for the Under-13 Boys, which was attended by the majority of the technical team. Out of approximately 130 trialists, 16 were selected. These teenagers hailed from various parts of the state, with most being from the Jhajhar district.
“Our biggest funding source is the people of this village“
Located 7.5 kilometers west of the DMRC Green Line’s last point, the academy’s facilities are modest. They possess a football ground with lights and a smaller ground for different age groups adjacent to it in front of their office at the Lowa Khurd Sports Complex. Recently, the village sarpanch built a gym.
Despite there being approximately 100 schools in the Bahadurgarh region, the academy has no existing partnerships with any of them. In fact, they don’t have any collaborations altogether. Their sole partnership is with ‘Haribhumi,’ a local newspaper.
“Getting sponsorships is next to impossible,” said the academy coach Vinay Joon. “We won the championship and qualified for a national tournament but for further operations (IWL2), we will need somewhere from 4 lakhs to 6 lakhs INR. That is the figure we agreed with after running a number of cost-cutting assumptions. We are without sponsors as well. No wonder we are running crowdfunding.”
“Our biggest source of monetary funds right now is the people of this village. They come to support us if we are playing nearby. For sponsors, the local government hasn’t been of help either. We have extended our word to politicians but we wonder what would be the outcome.”
Haryana has long been a hotspot for Indian sports, producing numerous athletes across various disciplines over the years. Notable figures include Neeraj Chopra, Deepak Niwas Hooda, Mohit Chhillar, Pardeep Narwal, among others. Also, the Indian Army has benefitted vastly from the region.
Speaking on it, a club official said, “It’s in the soil of Haryana. The children’s upbringing and nourishment itself shape them up for tough situations. They are involved in physical activities from a young age and hence, sports come naturally to them. We at City Bahadurgarh FC also target bringing more and more six-year-olds to our academy so that they get to grow up in a developing professional setup. In a few days, we will be fielding our U-13 and U-15 teams for the upcoming state tournaments.”
An academy prospect, Tanish Sharma, scored a terrific goal against Chandigarh at the Under-17 National Football Championship. For an academy solely focused on grassroots development, they have a long list of such players to make if they are to stand out. “Yes, we are well aware of that,” remarked Joon. “Youth and Grassroot development is our priority. In our senior women’s team, the average age is 20. And as I said, we always target all the age-groups. We conducted a tournament of our own for 8-year-olds. Our first season of being officially registered has been good on many fronts. Our senior men’s futsal team made it to the semis of the state championship,” he continued.
The coach in question, Vinay Joon, holds an AIFF C Diploma. He began his career as a PE teacher in a school.
“Home-Away format unsustainable for clubs like us”
Due to changes stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the AIFF has opted to leave clubs to manage their operational costs independently for this season. As per NewsNine’s report, the federation has told the clubs to fund their travel, food, and accommodation expenses apart from the 50,000 INR registration fees. This requirement proved excessive for more than a third of the participants, leading to their withdrawal.
Responding to this, an official said, “We were fine with traveling across Haryana for the state league. However, traveling across the country is unsustainable for the majority of the ecosystem. At this point, we would rather play at a centralized venue. However, to have a culture, a team needs to travel and play. We get significant support from our community. As we said, they help with the funds and support. In the future, we want to be at a stage where we get to embrace the European culture of playing home and away. Right now, we have to rely on the masses for monetary support.”
The club’s goal is to join the IWL by 2025. They want their men’s team to be in the I-League by 2030, with the ultimate aspiration of reaching the ISL. This, and establishing a pipeline for local footballers to excel on both national and international stages. In an ecosystem where goals often change, it’s intriguing to consider what the Haryana team donning Brighton colors can do. They start their campaign on the 22nd against Celtics Queen from Pondicherry, a club with previous experience at the top tier.
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