It’s easier to find a bunch of people to play football than hockey.

Even among women, more play football, not hockey. This is mostly due to the simplicity of the game. Yet when it comes to formal training, hockey players in India are better off. If you have plans to play the sport professionally, then there are more opportunities for hockey than football.

But things are changing. When I went for my Delhi team selection while studying at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, in 2009, there were just about 25 girls who showed up for the trials. This year when
I went, there were over 120 girls, which is a huge jump. It shows that the sport is growing and becoming popular in the country.

But I personally I think, football is waiting for its Chak De moment. (Chak De is a 2007 Bollywood film that made women’s hockey popular in India, starring super star Shah Rukh Khan.) Ultimately, that’s what sells in India. Then there will be a craze to copy the movie.

One of the hockey players who acted in the movie (Chitrashi Rawat, also a national level athlete) was from Dehradun. She trained at our school ground, because her college didn’t have a good ground. I still remember the craze when the movie was shot. She came to the ground for training and there was a huge buzz on campus. I was in class XI at that time and was already playing hockey.

I have captained the Delhi women’s football team from 2014 onwards. I play mid-field now. Our state team is getting younger and younger by the year. Today I am the oldest in the team. I am 32. But I definitely feel I have another four to five years in me.

(Jyoti Ann Burret is a former Indian football player. She plays for Hans WFC in Indian Women’s League. In conversation with Sangeeth Sebastian, writer and founder, Vvox, a sextech platform. The interview is a part of an AKADialog initiative to capture the lives of newsmakers.)