The girl from Army Public School!

This lockdown gave us a chance to have a conversation with the Captain of FIIOB Reginas, Kolkata, Ruby. It is the first ever interview of any Reginas but never felt so with she being so calm, composed and mature while answer questions. She let her emotions flow as we talked and it reflected why she has been chosen the lead the team. Here we go:

Tell us about your early football journey. How and when it started?

I never touched or played football in my life until I shifted to Army Public School, Noida in 2012, where I was staying in the school hostel. Our school organizes evening sports coaching, which was a compulsory activity for the hostel students. My brother was my inspiration for sports, so I started playing basketball just like him. The football field was next to our basketball court, so I used to get distracted when girls used to play football. Liking towards the game was growing inside me.

Due to some reason I left basketball after one month and started going to the gym. Suddenly, one day our football coach saw me sprinting during our game period with boys and asked me if I would like to come for football practice. That day I was happy. But it didn't last long because my mother was not allowing me to play football as my father faced a severe injury while playing football a few years back.

But I was very stubborn! I started playing without my parent's approval! I bought my first football shoes with the money I was saving. Finally, my liking for football changed into love and passion.

In mid 2012, I started representing our school team in tournaments. Every year our school organizes an inter-school tournament (Sohanlal Football Tournament) for Girls. In December 2014 they did too and it was my last year. It was the last tournament I played for my school.

We were in the finals against a team who were the CBSE champions of that year. I was a defender but my coach was training me for a goalkeeper as well for the past 3 months, and that day I realized why he was doing that. The whole tournament I played as a right-back but in the final, I was the goalkeeper. It was a fabulous match.

Unfortunately, we lost 1-2 but it was a match to remember against a strong team.

Then my 12th Board Exams were approaching, so I had to concentrate more on my studies. Later I shifted to Kolkata for my higher education. In Kolkata, I had no opportunity to play football, so I was not able to play for almost 4 years. In 2019 I was lucky to get my love and passion back into my life. The credit goes to Amity University Kolkata and FIIOB who allowed me to play and to restore the joy I lost in my past four years.

How did you get to know about FIIOB Reginas ?

In September 2019, I heard about FIIOB from my classmate named Saptarshi Dasgupta, who forwarded me a link of players’ registration for FIIOB Reginas and motivated me to join. Later I got a reminder of FIIOB when I played for my department in our intra-college football match. I met our college captain Ronjini there. She asked me to join the college team, and later in October, I was asked to join the team after a short trial round. I'm very happy that now I'm part of FIIOB Reginas.

When you came for your trial, do you had any idea what FIIOB is ? How these amateur teams work ? Have you played for any such kind of team before ?

When I went for my trials, I only knew FIIOB as a football team which was promoting build their first women team "FIIOB Reginas". I was not aware of the working procedure of these amateur teams, but when I received their working procedure, I felt obliged that I got selected for such a fantastic team. I have played for my school team where I knew people beforehand but never played with a team where players comes from different backgrounds, different parts of the city, hold different occupations and none of these matter. The only universal thing that unite us is the love and passion for playing football. It's a wonderful feeling.

It's almost 6 months here. How does it feel now?

In these 6 months, we have played 3 tournaments, got one fabulous family and many moments to cherish. My team is getting stronger day by day and within this short period, we are competing with the strongest teams in Kolkata. I gained more knowledge about football and improved my skills with the help of the coaches. I feel happy to be a part of this FIIOB family. Added a different dimension to my life now.

What do you think has changed in you as a footballer ? The Ruby that joined and the Ruby who is captain of FIIOB Reginas now ?

In my life, I always had support from someone which made me stronger, when that support was not physically present, somehow playing football gave me comfort, the strength to fight all the obstacles. There was a time when I lost that support, I lost myself and football was also not with me but now I have my football back in my life. I feel that support in my heart and I'm becoming stronger and stronger to face every challenges.

Ruby was strong but not that strong and positive that she used to. FIIOB brought back that Ruby again and being the Captain of this team made me a responsible person and gave me the opportunity to work with the group as a whole. The most important lesson that I'm learning being a Captain is to be more calm and patient.

What would you term as a most important learning in FIIOB apart from footballing side ?

In FIIOB, there's a positive environment that keeps me motivated and encourages me to stand again if I fall. Whether we win or lose, everyone keeps practicing to make themselves more ready to face further obstacles. We do it everyday with same energy. Every player supports each other and helps each other to enhance each other skills. Whenever we Reginas play, we do receive great support from our boys' team and for boys, we girls are always there to support. It's a great feeling being a part of such a big family that is filled with joy and happiness.

Where do you see yourself with this team in next one or two years ?

Within these 6 months, I have seen a lot of improvement in myself and within my teammate, and now we are one of the strongest teams in Kolkata. The aim is always to be on the top and then, who knows, we might be competing in state or national level tournaments in next two years. The personality which I'm building with this team definitely will help in other spheres of life.

Time flies but few things remain eternal. Like no matter how big FIIOB Reginas, Kolkata grow into, a girl who started playing football in her school at Noida will always remain the first ever permanent captain of Reginas. And probably, there could be no better character to lead this journey since its inception!

| Interview by Rajarshi Bhattacharya |