Female athletes and sportspersons, including cricketers, are now becoming popular in India but when it comes to coaching, apart from a few firsts, it's still the old boys' club
Maymol Rocky played for India for six years. She then became the first female head coach of the national football team
Becoming the first ever female head coach of the Indian women’s football team was not a cakewalk for Maymol Rocky. The 41-year-old created history in 2017 when she was handed over the reins.
Coming from a family of sports fanatics from Dabolim in Goa, Rocky had started playing football as a child. Her mother was not in favour of it because she was concerned about Rocky getting hurt. “My brother was a football player. My father was also into sports and always encouraged me to take it up. But mom was difficult,” she says. Rocky was 10 years old and in the fifth grade when she joined the Sports Authority of India academy in Margao, Goa. “I was an athlete there for ten years,” she recollects.
In 1999, she started playing football professionally after her coach informed her about trials for the Goa state team. There was no looking back since then. Rocky represented India for six years between 2001 and 2007 and went on to become an established international player. Her transition from being a player in the national team to its head coach was not easy. She overcame many odds with hard work, perseverance and patience.
One of Rocky’s coaches encouraged her to consider a career in coaching. Rocky started with teaching football to kids in her locality. When she decided to take up courses related to coaching, she often found herself adjusting with male counterparts, with whom she had to travel during the courses. “There were very few women,” she says. “It was difficult when I started, but a few fellow coaches were supportive. My parents were also supportive, but at times it was difficult to make them understand why I have do these courses with men.”
After she received the required licences, Rocky was hired by the Goa Football Association in 2006. Six years later, she was chosen by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for the national under-16 team. Gradually, she was shifted to the senior team. “The recognition from AIFF was huge since there were not many female coaches back then,” she says.
(This story appears in the 16 July, 2021 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)