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What a lovely post.
Coach Vinod Loyal - The man behind empowering girls through football in Sadalpur (Hisar in Haryana)
Coach Vinod Loyal, 39, makes his living by farming but is driven by his passion for football. Over the years he has become a saviour for the girls in village Sadalpur in Hisar and played a pivotal role in empowering the girls, largely coming from a humble background.
To live his dream of making these girls world-class footballers, he is ready to go an extra mile, pitch in funds from his own pockets.
Ten of his students have made it to the Indian women’s football squad in various age groups and the count is still on.
The beginning
It was the abject surrender of his native village Chuli Bagrian’s team in a local tournament that motivated Vinod , then a student of Class 11, to start coaching part-time. It has become a lot more than that and not only did his village benefit but also girls from Sadalpur, 13km away.
“I was hoping for a career in football and wanted to do a coaching diploma from NIS, Patiala, but my early marriage forced me to change my priorities and I got stuck with the family affairs. I was 17 and my wife was just 14 when we got married. I know how the dreams get crushed once you enter the wedlock at an early age,” says Vinod, who gives free coaching. “So, I wanted all my trainees to concentrate on their sporting career first, because marriage can wait, but we have a specific time to excel in the sports.”
Vinod regularly interacts with the parents of his trainees and makes them aware about the achievements of their daughters and what they will be in years to come. “Had this pandemic didn’t occurred, four or five girls from Sadalpur would have definitely played at the Under-17 FIFA World Cup and the entire world would have noticed their feat. But now that it has been canceled, I am hoping that in the next edition of the junior world cup (2022), three or four girls from our next batch will likely be in the squad,” says Vinod, who runs a Vinod Football Club.