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Category : Football
Welcome to the second episode of Sister's Got Game, the podcast that introduces you to a community of extraordinary women who are changing the game when it comes to sports and wellness. In this episode, we meet Aditi Chauhan, Indian National Football Team Goalkeeper, Founder & CEO of She Kicks Football Academy.
Nothing is impossible - that's the theme of this episode, and you'll see it coming across time and again with the amazing achievements that Aditi has accomplished, despite all the setbacks that have come her way. From her tough upbringing, to the struggle through her younger days with access to coaching facilities, to her ACL injury and more, Aditi's journey of discipline and mental fortitude is all you'll need to lift your spirits. Join us as Sisters in Sweat founder and fellow footballer Tanvie Hans dives deep in conversation with Aditi Chauhan about their mutual love for football, Aditi's entrepreneurial initiative She Kicks, and all that's in store for the world of Indian sport, thanks to the vision that these legends are determined to fulfill!
Tanvie: For those who don't know Aditi Chauhan, she is a close friend, a footballer, the National Team goalkeeper and also the proud founder of She Kicks which we will get into later. She's also a presenter, she is a commentator, she's making an impact on the field and off the field, so I couldn't have thought of someone better for our second episode of Sisters Got Game.
Okay Adi, you're currently in rehab because you had an injury? Can you tell us what happened, what caused the injury and I believe this is your second major injury in your career so far.. I'm very curious to know the mental and emotional space that you're in.
Aditi: Yeah this is my second ACL injury, I got my first when I was playing for West Ham in the UK, that was also a big shocker and I remember, I was playing for West Ham and I was supposed to fly back to India to join the National Team for an Olympic qualifier. I got this injury two days before I was supposed to fly to India. I didn't really know what it was, I thought it was something minor and I can be back soon, but when I got to India, we got the MRI done and the doctor came into my room and told me that it's an ACL injury and I've basically tourn the entire ligament and I have to get a surgery which will keep me out for 9 months which is the usual rehab period for ACL.
I'm not a very emotional person, you know that, but for the next 3 days I was just literally crying, because I planned that once I come back from the national team assignment, I will try for higher division clubs, because I was not on student visa anymore so I could play for professional clubs. But when I was made aware about the injury, I thought my career was over, because no one before me had come back from an ACL injury to the national team.
No woman, I didn't know if it was possible because playing football was my whole identity, being the national team player was the whole identity and that's how I saw it at least at that time. So yeah, I thought my career was over. I didn't know who I was if I wasn't playing football, because I had just completed my studies, I wasn't really employed anywhere, but the only thing that I knew was the love for sports was real and for football was real and that's what I wanted to do even if I didn't play football. Yeah so, it was very emotional period, as a player you're training around full year, you're just playing; that's your whole mindset, your training off the field as well, for building your physique, your strength, everything to be ready for matches.
And when that is taken away you're basically, sitting at home, you can't really do anything for at least, for the initial few months so yeah, I was just trying to figure out what do I do, what's next for me.
And while I was going through my rehab, a lot of the credit for me to come back goes to my family, especially my Mom, she never gave up. I am very very fortunate that I have a very supportive family who knows, you know, put me on the right track, put me in the right frame of mind, so of course I feel it's the most challenging part of your career, of course the hard work and everything because you doing something that you love it you don't really pay too much attention to that but when that is taken away it is a huge emotional setback, but uh yeah I stayed positive, tried to overcome all of that, but while I was doing the rehab my whole mindset was that, no one else has done it and I since I had the exposure of West Ham, of the UK, I knew that girls or women have done it abroad, it's possible and I wanted to do that here in India, set an example that you know, an injury like this cannot define you or does not mean the end of your career.
You following a proper rehab or having the right guidance can help put you back on track of what you want to do, so I wanted to take something positive, something that I can look up to, through this journey, so my intention was to set an example for the other girls that, it's possible to come back from an injury like this. It's of course a lot of hard work and mentally have to stay very strong, more than physical. You know, recently when I was reading that the team list had come out for the Olympic qualifiers and the Asian games, of course I was happy that the teams participating in Asian Games and the Olympic qualifiers round too, it's a huge achievement for us, but of course not seeing your name on the list and thinking and imagining that the team's going to be playing.. I didn't want to see it anymore. I just wanted to, you know, come back to what I'm doing and focus on what is in my control, but emotionally it's not easy.
Tanvie: I can imagine yeah, I obviously have been witness to your rehab process even over here in Bangalore, you've been coming regularly for swimming I think, you've been given some swimming exercises and things like that. But you're pretty good at that. Regardless of the fact that you know, someone is in your head about you're doing it on your own, like with your own discipline and things like that which I, yeah I mean I totally admire it.
Aditi: I mean that's what sports teaches you, you know, it's all about discipline and consistency, nothing comes easy, you have to put the work in every single day, especially when no one's watching, when you're off the radar, obviously when you're with the national team you have to do it because you have to get ready for something, but this is the time when it's on you, it's basically you, you looking after yourself and what is your priority, what are your targets, or aim in life, and for me it's very clear that again the same kind of mindset. I'm not going to say that it was easy, or it has been easy. My immediate reaction when this ACL happened was that I'm giving up, I’m not playing anymore, what is the point of me doing this because I know how hard these nine months are going to be, so putting in that work I thought, is it even worth it? Those are the questions that keep playing in your mind. But again, my mom, right from the first day, she was like, ‘I'm not letting you quit like this, this is not who you are, and I will make sure that you are back on the field, no matter how long you play, that is up to you but I will make sure that you're back on the pitch and you retire how you deserve to retire.’ So again, a lot of emotional strength from her and that's put me in the right frame of mind I think, that was needed again, the injury is not going to define when I stop playing it. It is me who is going to decide when I call it quits.
Tanvie: Yeah nice, that's how it should be, um so yeah I think you've been fortunate to have a solid support system, with your family and obviously, friends and colleagues and things, and then of course the self-discipline. She Kicks was born out of, I think your first injury rehab period, so tell us how She Kicks came about, what the intention of it is and what is the future that you see for it.
Aditi: I'm sure you've had the similar, you know, we've both grown up in Delhi. You having that passion for football, lot of challenges that we faced, not having any place to go and train regularly, no guidance or mentorship in that sense, what's the path or what's the next step ahead, especially being a goalkeeper there was no goalkeeper training, that's that was happening throughout the year, no matches that we were playing I know you know there were years when we would go by, then not playing a single competitive match so um those were a lot of gaps that I saw along the way.
Like I said, I didn't know what I would do after I retire from playing, but I knew that my love is for the sport and I wanted to do it even if I don't have a very, you know luxurious life, I'm not earning a lot of money, but I'll be happy only if I stay in sports and do something constructive or contribute in the development of sports in India and that's the reason why I decided to do sports management in UK, even though at that time, there's no really, sports industry, there was no career in sports especially for a girl, but just thinking that this is what makes me happy, that's the reason why, and again my family coming from a military family had a huge financial burden that they had to you know, take up in terms of for me, to pursue these studies was was not a small decision for them.
But they were supportive of the idea and of course my brother also played an important role in convincing my parents, so when I got this injury and the exposure that I had through West Ham and through my education, I realized what are the gaps missing in India, and from the passion that I had I felt like this is the gap that I want to fulfil, creating a platform where the girls who are passionate, interested in football can go and train in a safe environment, professional environment throughout the year they have a team or a competition to regularly play and improve, and really test themselves because there's no point of training if you don't have competitions.
Also the other part of it is also you know, over these years I realized the personality that I've developed and how I've evolved is, a lot of credit goes to playing sports and a sport like football, which is both mentally and physically demanding, it puts you in situations and tests you in ways where you feel like you don't have a chance, but you have to come out of it and move on and and still play and especially being a goalkeeper you know you concede once, but you have the entire game to still play how do you move on from that in seconds?
I felt like sports and football has shaped my personality, it's made me stronger, wiser and gave me the courage to do a lot of things in my life, also pursue this as a career so I wanted uh more and more girls to experience this, build that personality especially in India where you know there are so many challenges that they face from the society, and not being able to take your own decisions, you have to think, you know you have to listen to your parents you have to listen to so many other things, so I felt like introducing them and giving them this
exposure to sports and especially football can help them build those life skills that can be used in any career that they choose later on in life if it's not football.
So the two intentions - the first was to increase participation, take football to as many girls as possible, but also create an ecosystem and a pathway for them, for the talented ones or who are really passionate about the game they can take their career ahead and have a career in.
Tanvie: She Kicks is of course a passion project, you told us what it's about, the intention, what is the vision that you have for it and what is the age of a girl who can actually look at joining?
Aditi: The vision has always been to take this platform across India, to you know, be involved and make a difference in as many lives as we can for girls, um like I said, the idea is as many girls as we can approach and we get in touch and get them involved in football.
That would be ideal but also create a professional club. We are now a registered club, so I want to take that hopefully in the coming years, you will see She Kicks playing in the IWL, I want to make a professional club out of it. I don't see women's football as just a foundation run activity or something that is for a charitable cause, I do see a business, also in it and that's the reason why I have the club also registered, and I have the foundation running to work on the community aspect of it.
Tanvie: Awesome! If I'm not wrong, She Kicks FC participated in the Delhi League this last season?
Aditi: Last season, they participated this year as well. They'll be participating and the best thing is that I want our own girls to be playing, not just get girls from outside and play for the club. The idea is to provide a proper structure, proper professional environment, like I mentioned for them to excel, and then play for the club and hopefully play for the national team.
Tanvie: I think it's possible man, you are the right person to do it as well I think. So there are just a handful of female footballers in India that I think people know about, you are definitely up there. It's also because you, know you, have a presence off the field as well, which extends to your social media presence, it extends to again you've done like you've been a presenter a commentator so you sort of are out there right? And I think that is important because, you know, from experience, we know that there's not enough news about women's football even at an international level, it's just not covered. Now of course, international football for women is growing and we have the Women's World Cup going on right now, um but in general, we're not, the female footballers are not celebrated as personalities or as celebrities as you know, despite the hard work that's put in, so you, of course are up there, because you have put yourself out there, beyond the athlete that you are and I want to understand what, you know, what your take is on social media, the power of social media and um how did, you know, your TV gigs and stuff come about and how do you feel about it.
Aditi: I feel social media is extremely important, you have to put yourself out there because one of the main things here in India, why women's football has taken so long to grow is also because we didn't have role models growing up, we didn't have someone looking you know who we could look up to and not just for the young kids but also for the parents to see that you can have a career out of it.
It is um not just a hobby, it can be seen as a career option in that sense I feel and that's why that's how I like to use my social media to show what's possible. You know, that is the reason why I'm so active on social media, and the reason why I've got into a lot of broadcasting, because it gives me that exposure for the general public to see a female figure in this sport.
As an expert (on sports channels), it is extremely important for me to showcase the experience that I have and do justice to it, and not take the opportunity for granted, just because I’m a girl. In fact, especially because I’m a girl, I should prove that I am an expert in the field like my male counterparts. And of course, you know, no girl had taken this route before me, so obviously it was something that I wasn't very sure about, but then again, I thought, this will give me the exposure that is needed to put women's football in front, shed light to what's happening in women's football to the general public who's not aware of it and these kind of platforms that gives you access to, you know, a wider audience, is extremely important. That's why I encourage a lot of my other players to also start doing commentary in their regional language if they're not comfortable with Hindi or English.
Regional languages are also coming up in terms of commentary so why not get into it, put your voice out there, put your name out there, this is what is needed, you want to have role models see - one or two role models are not enough, you want to have role models in different states for their own region for people from regions where they are coming from. It's extremely important and uh that's what I try to encourage more girls to do. Hopefully with time, that will happen more, yeah, but I'm glad to be leading the path and uh of course grateful that I got the opportunity. But uh I'm always open to these kind of things because I feel it's extremely important both social media and whatever ways you can interact with more public and in whatever means you can uh spread awareness about the game, that's what is is needed in India right now, I agree so yeah, basically just showing that there are possibilities for female athletes and a lot of it is in you, our hands as well to build the personality and especially if you've played for so many years, you've naturally become an expert in that field right? So why not share that experience, your thinking with other people and really show that you know.
Women footballers are very smart and they have a lot of potential. We face so many challenges as women in sport, uh so why not take up another challenge and conquer it? Break the barriers.
Tanvie: Well done man! Okay so I believe Alex Scott is someone that you look up, she is an English player an ex English team player and now also a presenter and I think she's also part of the Women's World Cup um expert panel and things like that. She's part of everything
Aditi: Yeah yeah yeah yeah, so that's someone that you look up to right? And I think the way that you said that you want more people to get to know about you there's a personality that you know, um that you want people to know that there's a female footballer and that's a purpose of your social media.
I feel people and celebrities and all these personalities are more accessible, they're more tangible you know, so it feels like these dreams are more doable, because these people are more accessible and you can actually see their lives a little bit more.
I think anyone who knows women's football in India there are just a handful of people that they'd be able to name. You're definitely top of the most, and that's really because of the way that you've um done things off the field as well of course on the field, is you know, it speaks for itself um but off the field as well and I think that's something I also want to encourage in the female athletes that we have in India because they tend to be camera shy, they tend to be, steer away from it, or have a judgement towards social media.
I feel like it is powerful it's what we need right now because no one's speaking enough about us in our journey so why not do it ourselves and there's so many incredible stories the even with the national team players I keep saying it that initially, set up the social media pages for a lot of my national team players, telling them what to post, what captions to put, writing captions for them and all that, but glad that it's slowly become a habit now for a few of them.
But there's still so much to be done, you know I know from personal interactions their journey, the kind of background they come from, the kind of challenges they've faced and that is not being shared and I feel like you you've overcome so much more than what you put out there. It is uh so inspirational, because you don't know even if you can influence one person it's a lot of things you know, it means a lot at least to me it means a lot if I can influence and if I can inspire one person I've done my job.
That's what I want, even if one person gets out, there and challenges themselves, that's what you need and uh that's why I keep hoping and keep telling them, just share, whatever platform you get, if even if you get a chance to speak to your local region, if you get a chance to speak to the youngsters, go ahead, share your story, go back to your school and speak to them. We need more role models and even if they don't get into football, they can know those kind of challenges are in every career option, every field. So maybe it'll help them uh uh come past those challenges in their own career path, so very important to use social media and every platform that you get.
Tanvie: Yeah you said it perfectly, I think I'm going to end over there, thanks alot for these takeaways from today. Thanks Adi for giving us your time, I could see the passion while you're talking about it, and you're literally tearing up in bits as well. I can see that and you're not an emotional person so I know that it means a lot. Yeah I know that it means a lots, um but yeah great to have you here, literally the perfect person to have for our second episode. I can't wait to see the the way that you sort of break barriers, beyond this. Now through this podcast, we get more followers of women's football, we have some very exciting tournaments coming up and a very bright future. Hopefully we can make it to the World Cup, we missed narrowly if it wasn't for Corona man, that was so unfortunate yeah, but I'm sure we'll see that very soon for sure, thanks Adi give me a hug!
SIS Got Game is the perfect podcast if you're an athlete, fitness enthusiast or if you're simply looking to know more about all the women who are killing it in their fields!
