Talking to Anoushka Parija from Her-World, the fifteen year old celebrated sportsperson, Ms. Ananya Kamboj from Chandigarh, shares her vision and ideas.
HER-WORLD: As a young sportsperson, a girl driving change, what has your journey been like? Tell us about your childhood and passion for sports.
Ananya Kamboj: Right from my childhood, I wanted to become an athlete. I started playing basketball from the tender age of five. Only when I turned eleven, I started playing football. Starting from 5am, my schedule used to be a sports power-packed affair. Gradually I realized that it was mentally and physically difficult to manage both the sports. After juggling between the two sports, I made the tough decision of choosing football over basketball.
HER-WORLD: As a girl in a predominantly male-dominated terrain of sports, what were some of your challenges? How did you overcome them?
Ananya Kamboj: The objectification of women in sports is a deplorable reality. They’re called ‘hot’ or ‘sexy’ rather than being called a champion or talented.
Another major challenge for women in India remains the burden of cultural baggage and the predatory nature of the eco-system that governs sports in India. Unfortunately, women face far more challenges emerging through the cave of athletic development. Only the strong willed and determined can prevail by surviving the hostile and abusive environment that is present around domestic sports.
HER-WORLD: You represented India in the Football for Friendship (F4F) social project in Russia. What were your learnings from it?
Ananya Kamboj: Football for Friendship (F4F) is an annual international children’s social programme that brings together children from over 211 countries to cultivate respect for different cultures and nationalities through football. Implemented by Gazprom and supported by organisations like FIFA, UEFA, the UN, the Olympic and Paralympic Committees, governments, and football federations of different countries, children are divided into ‘teams of friendship’ and as a symbolic action, they tie friendship bracelets on each other’s wrists. When you wear this Friendship bracelet on your wrist, you are showing your willingness to follow the principles of this movement: friendship, equality, fairness, health, peace, devotion, victory, traditions and honour. These principles are not only for the football field, feel free to follow them anywhere, anytime. Share a bracelet with a friend and start the race for peace, equality and fairness.
HER-WORLD: As an advocate of gender equality, what are the lessons for sports as career choices in India? Is it gender-sensitive?
Ananya Kamboj: It has been an absolute privilege to be an athlete and both as a woman and an athlete, I dream of seeing equal number of girls playing cricket as boys.
Despite the numerous obstacles and the difficulties they’ve faced, women have been athletes for centuries. Women have persevered and carved out their own spaces in sports. And as they blaze new trails, they clear the path for other women to follow them.
It is a wonderful time for women interested in sports related careers and I want to encourage women from all backgrounds to consider new opportunities in the sports. If you are a woman and want to take sports as a career, do it! Generations of girls will thank you as sports continues to expand roles for women.
HER-WORLD: Tell us about your Sports to Lead campaign. How and why did you start this project?
Ananya Kamboj: I have been playing football and basketball in my school and club teams since childhood. During my training sessions, I noticed how some sports coaches had been promoting the notion that girls can’t play sports. I was very offended when the coaches used phrases like ‘you are a girl’, ‘you are playing like a girl,’ and those kinds of statements. I thought I need to demolish these differences between men and women. This made me launch Sports to Lead to help girls and women understand their rights and overcome gender inequality. This initiative uses sports as a medium and includes workshops and awareness sessions on how to fight discrimination and gender inequality.
HER-WORLD: You are also a published author. What are the themes you touch upon? Tell us about your work and where we could find your books.
Ananya Kamboj: When most persons talk about a school curriculum, seldom do I hear or read about sports as being part of the curriculum. This neglect has detrimental effects on the youth as a person who has never learned any sport would not be able to discern the difference between victory and defeat. That is basically the essence of sports education.
The book presents a holistic picture of the good life, which transcends the prevalent narrow understanding of what constitutes success, fulfillment, and happiness in life. It offers a fresh interpretation of sports through human values which collectively enriches the different dimensions of life. A harmonious realization of all these values helps us grow as truly and fully humans. My book is available online on Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press.
HER-WORLD: How has COVID-19 changed the landscape of sports? Is there a message you want to give to young girls reading this?
Ananya Kamboj: Yes, COVID-19 has completely changed the landscape of sports. The global outbreak has resulted in closure of gyms, stadiums, pools, fitness studios, physiotherapy centres, parks and playgrounds. Many sportspersons are therefore not able to actively participate in their regular individual or group sporting or physical activities outside of their homes. Under such conditions, many tend to be physically less active, have longer screen time, irregular sleep patterns as well as worse diets, resulting in weight gain and loss of physical fitness.
My advice to young girls is create a flexible but consistent daily routine including physical exercise at home every day to help with stress and restlessness.
HER-WORLD: How do you see the impact of Government schemes like Khelo India, Come and Play scheme of Sports Authority of India and efforts to celebrate diversity, gender equality and disability?
Ananya Kamboj: Both initiatives of Government of India marks a watershed moment in the history of Indian sports, as the programs aims to encourage sports all over the country, allowing the population to harness the power of sports through its cross-cutting influence and to use sports as a means of holistic development of children and youth, community development and more.
The Come & Play Scheme was initiated for optimum utilization of SAI sports facilities across the country and primarily focused on encouraging local sportspersons in areas where SAI sports facilities/Centres are operational. The scheme creates yet another pool of talented sportspersons from where meritorious sportspersons can be scouted and inducted into regular residential sports promotional schemes of SAI Training Centres (STC) and Special Area Games (SAG).
HER-WORLD: Who is your role model? What is the one motto or adage that you live by?
Ananya Kamboj: My late grandfather Mr. Nanak Chand Kamboj is my role model and he has been my greatest inspiration. He was a man of values, discipline and more of a community lover I would say.
My motto is to support youth to create positive change towards a more inclusive, fair, and sustainable community. I am here to serve a cause and that is to celebrate women empowerment and gender equality. Each one of us can make a contribution by empowering our daughters, sisters and other girls in our family and community.
