You dress like a boy, you act like a boy, you sit like a boy, you walk like a boy, why do you play like a boy? Why don’t you dress like a beautiful girl, why don’t you act like a classic girl, why don’t you sit elegantly like a girl?why don’t you walk gracefully like a girl? why don’t you play with princesses like a girl? I grew up known as a “TOMBOY”, it’s who I am ,who I want to be and nobody can change that.
Every little girl dreams of a perfect fairytale childhood, a childhood with dolls, kitchen sets, makeup bags and playing hot cross buns but then there I was a girl who replaced dolls with footballs, kitchen sets with cricket sets, makeup bags for new soccer bags and playing hot cross buns for races and runs.. Well that was my perfect fairytale. While normal girls played “kitchen kitchen”, I played cricket with the boys, when they played with their dolls I went for football practice and when they put makeup on I put bandaids. That was who I was and is who I am. Im still the same “tomboy”, the same person who left a fairytale girls childhood to have one of a boy.
My journey started 8 years ago in school when during our physical education block, I was the only girl playing. I still remember the exact words my teacher told me that day “Kyra you will do wonders someday, come for football practice every Wednesday and Friday morning”.There I was, a young clueless girl wearing a jersey twice her size standing in the middle of the field playing with girls older than her. Even though I was a bit overwhelmed, anxious watching how the others played, when the ball was in play nothing else mattered, all that mattered: was me, the ball and the goal. Even though I wasn’t very good, since it was my first time playing with an actual team.I really enjoyed and realised I had finally found my passion.
Lucky for me, I grew up with a twin brother and a father who were both very enthusiastic about sports especially football. My brother was a part of the school football team as well. The three of us would usually play together in order to get more practice. Growing up with a twin brother, I never felt discriminated against in my own household as my parents gave us both equal opportunities in terms of sports. Even though I used to get trained at school I all the extra practice I got at home is what made me a good player.
At the end of my 5th grade I was told that I was changing schools and was joining Jamnabai Narsee International School, the same school but the IB section. Start of 6th grade in a new school was great but that meant forming a new football team was a herculean task. With pressure from the PE department, and the urge to play I gathered 16 girls who have played football at least once in their lives and we went for an inter-school tournament. That year we landed up reaching the quarterfinals. The same thing continued for two years until our coach was switched. Having a change was hard in the middle of the year. In just a snap of a second our team changed and we had more juniors playing in an Un16 team. Our team had suddenly fallen, no one showed up for practice. That moment I saw my future falling.I had no team, had a coach who had lost hope in our players. I was so frustrated that my parents had changed my school, my old school was doing so well. Coming first in so many tournaments. Them winning wasn’t the pin pocking me the fact that they played so many more tournaments than we did was poking me. We had 3 tournaments in that year from which we won, none.
Even though my time at school wasn’t great three people from our school were selected to go for nationals representing the International Boards Of India. The teachers of our school had decided who would go and I was thrilled to know that my new coach saw potential in me. This team was a mix of girls from various schools which was a disadvantage at first but eventually became an advantage as it helped all of learn different things. The coaching we received was something I had never experienced before. I was so fortunate to get selected and get such an opportunity. Even though I didn’t get to play the position I wanted, I was happy I got to play. My coach he though I played really well in my position and was proud of me. This journey was a hard one as we played teams such as Punjab,Haryana, Jharkhand and more teams of that sort. We reached the quarters and lost, but for a team with girls who barely played together reaching the quarterfinals was an unexpected accomplishment . We didn't win the cup but sure did win everyones heart, all the coaches were impressed by our performance and we left there leaving our mark.
Over those years besides school I trained outside and played tournaments such as ROOTS so that I still got to play and do something I love. I learnt many different things playing this tournament and it was thus time that made me realise that there is a life in football apart from school.My team ended up winning and I won the “Most Assists” and “Most Valuable Platers” Trophy. Playing this tournament helped me develop many other skills as it was played on a smaller pitch with a smaller goal and was only 5 aside. It helped develop my shots, my accuracy, passing and quick movements.Little did I know this tournament would help me in our school games as well. Our school team started getting called for inter-school liga’s which were 5 aside and with my new skills my team had an advantage. Many of these tournaments came our way and we surprisingly did well in them. I felt the fog covering my future starting to clear.
I believe that having such a challenging past will help me create a great future. I have decided to focus on sports and have a career in it as well. Doing something I love and having a carrier in that field will help me reach great heights, due to my passion.
Dressing like a boy.Acting like a boy.Sitting like a boy. Walking like a boy.And playing like a boy is what has made me who I am today. If it wasn’t for being called TOMBOY in the past I would have been a completely different person. I like who and how I am today, and am happy that my past will give me the future I want. The best part is that I did all of this being a GIRL, so for all those girls who want to pursue sports. Do not hesitate, always work hard and never give up, your goal will be accomplished. Success takes time but will come gradually. All you need to do is make sure you do it “LIKE A GIRL”.