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It was at the 52nd edition of the Subroto Cup that I first came across Dalima Chibber. A student of the Tagore International School, East of Kailash, she stood out with her grit and power, which were benign of her age or lack of experience back then. Since that tourney, the prodigy, blest with supreme natural gifts and coached by father Om Chibber has evolved into India’s brightest young talents.
Looking back, Dalima, definitely is one of Subroto’s most potent gift to football. Her magic does not just lie in the number of goals that she has accumulated or the rate at which she has scored them. It lies in the manner in which she made them, for she certainly seemed, rather like a lot of illustrated international superstars, to make goalscoring into a different art.
Thus as we approach another edition of the tournament, we caught up with the prodigy who in an exclusive chat talked about her experience so far and how she aspires to one day play in Europe.
Excerpts:
Hello Dalima, tell us a little about yourself and your association of the beautiful game started?
So basically my dad is a football coach and as a kid, in my third or fourth grade I used to tag along with him to the football ground. Over there I saw guys playing football and at that time there were hardly any girls playing the game. So I just used to kick the ball around and that’s how my love for the game initially developed. It was actually in the fourth grade that I actually started playing football.
And it was in the sixth grade when I played my first nationals. I was 11 years old at that time and I played in the under 19 category. This is how I got initiated. And when I started playing, I fell in love with the game. I used to admire Ronaldinho at that time and I had his posters put up in my room, read articles on him.
So once I fell in love with the game, there was no looking back and I decided to make a career out of it. There were hardly any tournaments for girls in 2009, so that was a deterrent.
You happened to play the Subroto Cup some years back, how was that experience?
Subroto Cup was the only girl’s football inter-school tournament at that time. That was in the year 2011 and was my first school tournament. And hence, it was really a big thing for me and my team and we were really excited about it and that excitement has only grown over the time. Now when I go and see Subroto Cup, I see more and more teams (girls) joining in.
The number of girls playing has increased and school that did not have a girl’s team back then now has a team and have started calling girls for football. And these girls enjoy playing. From that time to today, things have really grown over time and I hope it continues to become bigger over time.
Would you like to share something about Eves Soccer Club, the academy where you started off?
Yes, we as a part off Eves Soccer Club played inter-club leagues organized by Delhi Soccer Association. We were champions the first year and finished as runners up in the 2nd edition of the loacal Delhi league here. Also two of our ex-players, Aditi Chauhan and Tanvie Hans, as we all know, making India proud by playing in England with top soccer clubs.
So you see, now there is a way being created for Indian girls to go abroad and play football and they can choose to realize their dreams. These girls have shown us how it’s done. In India, there isn’t any exposure but abroad, especially in England, there is a good platform. Our club thus is planning to send more girls abroad to play. Hopefully, I will do the same.
You have also played the senior nationals for Delhi, what do you think of the way our team has been performing at the international level?
The Indian team has been the winners of the SAFF Championship last year and our game has not been bad. Even if we consider our FIFA rank we are really good; just that some support from the association would do world of good for the women’s team.
We urgently need a league for women in India, like men have the I League and if that happens the women circle is going to grow like anything in India. In fact, I wouldn’t put it beyond us to play in the World Cup soon.
On that note, do you think the lack of professionalism is hampering the game in our country?
There were hardly any tournaments for girls in till a decade back. Now there are some at least. But once you grow out of a certain age group or college there is just National Games or the Open Nationals organized by All India Football Federation or you can just play for the Indian national team.
This is maximum expose you can get in India after that there is no such exposure as such in India. This why Tanvi and Aditi went abroad and pursued what they wanted to. Aditi was the best goalkeeper of India and she played for the Indian national team, that’s the maximum she can do in India and there is nothing else to do. Hence, she had to move out.The situation obviously doesn’t augur well for us. Hopefully, things will improve soon.
Finally, what are your plans moving ahead? We believe, apart from football, you are pursuing your under graduation from the University of Delhi?
Indeed. Right now I am first-year Psychology student at Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University and plan to go for Sports Psychology in my masters. I would surely head out. In fact, we don’t even have sports psychology as a subject in India. But I am surely going to continue with the game abroad.
