Meet Telangana’s Chak De girl

Yendala Soundarya from  Nizamabad is the first and only player from Telangana to be part of the Indian women’s hockey team, which could qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics (an official announcement will be made by October). The last time the Indian women’s hockey team qualified for Olympics was over three decades ago, in 1980.

“In 2012, we couldn’t qualify and we were adamant that next time we would make it, and here we are. After 35 years, the Indian women’s hockey team will be a part of the Olympics, I am proud and extremely happy,” says 25-year-old Soundarya, who works as a senior TC in the Indian Railways.

As a child, Soundarya loved playing kho-kho but later took to hockey after watching her seniors play. Her school’s sports instructor introduced her to coach Maqbool Ahmed, who trained her. Soundarya then moved to SAI, Hyderabad, where she trained for the next two years. She played her first internatio-nal match in 2006.

“I still remember my first international game... I was nervous before I began but once the game started, I couldn’t think of anything but the game,” says Soundarya, the team’s forward striker.

But the journey wasn’t easy for her. “When I told my parents about my love for hockey, they asked me not to play it because I was a girl. But my grandfather supported me. Back then, nobody knew much about hockey in Nizamabad. But I did not give up and now my family is happy for me. My sister Lavanya and younger brother Sagar, who also plays hockey, were my support system.”

At SAI too, when a lot of players went back home because their parents thought that the game was not lucrative, Soundarya did not. Though she too came from a humble background, her dream to play for India kept her going.

Soundarya is one of the many examples of people from small towns who have made it big. She agrees that a lot of talent is hidden in small towns. “From Nizamabad alone you have three examples — Malavath Purna, the youngest girl to reach Everest, boxer Nikhat Zareen and me.” Back in Nizamabad, many play hockey and Soundarya wants to do her bit to encourage them.

“There is no hockey coach currently in Nizamabad, but a lot of people learn from the seniors who play there. There is talent but nobody to encourage them. If each small town had at least one coach, then more talented people from small towns can come up,” she says adding,

“Hockey is a game for which all you need is a stick, a ground, a coach and passion to play the game. I work in Mumbai now, but if I get a job opportunity in Telangana, I would love to teach the kids. Hockey always had a future but I guess the game is not being promoted. We don’t have enough coaches in India.”