In December 2014, a football training camp and tournament was co-hosted by Aston Villa, in New Delhi. The training camp saw many girls from prominent schools and backgrounds, as well as underprivileged backgrounds participating. The girls played at the Delhi Dreams Girls Football Tournament and there was a turnout of more than 120.
22-year-old, Aston Villa Ladies Defender, Jade Richards was part of the club's community team. She spoke about the girls from different backgrounds in India who participated in the tournament with great enthusiasm. “No matter what they were wearing they gave it 100% and they had huge smiles on their faces afterwards. They came out and played their hearts out. It was an amazing atmosphere. The most touching moment for me was when one of the girls told me it was the best day of her life. It had nothing to do with any of the coaching we gave, it was just the opportunity she had to come out, the opportunity to express themselves and be surrounded by other girls that they might not normally play with and find they had similar interests."
The director of Cequin (an Indian non-government organisation) expressed, “Sport is an effective medium to engage girls, to help build confidence levels, enhance leadership qualities, school retention and delay marriage. Football encourages girls to access public spaces, to go out there and claim their public parks. In India, typically girls don't play outdoors and we want to change that culture. We want girls to come out in large numbers and be seen, to be visible.”
Pratibha (14) and Aveka Singh (11) were two individuals from India who had the opportunity to join the club in Birmingham. They played the roles of mascots during their trip to Villa Park.
On speaking about what football meant to her, Pratibha Singh said, “How can I tell you how much I love my mum? It is like that. I love football. I never thought about playing football, my grandad used to play and now I go back to my village and he plays football with me."
Aveka Singh occasionally plays with 19-year-olds due to the shortage of young female players. She used to play for recreational purposes but after this trip, her goals may have changed. “First, football was just like a fun game to me but after getting the opportunity to play outside I was thinking of taking it up.It means a lot to me, I would like to take it up as a career, I want to play internationally. India doesn't have too many opportunities, they don't have women's teams that play in cups or leagues. It is pretty tough playing there, it is tough to get the chances."
