Tripura tribal girl glorifies tri-colour in Beijing football
16 September, Agarta;a
After Dipa Karmakar in Rio Olympics, an impoverished tribal girl from a remote village of Tripura made India proud by performing well as goal-keeper in the under-16 Indian women’s football team in China this week. There is no euphoria or exultation about her but Laxmita Reang (15) remains her pristinely simple and unassuming self.
She has come a long way from the remote Bahadurbasti village under Khedacherra police station close to Mizoram border. “I have only represented the country but they have won medals ; so they deserve to be awarded but if I can keep up the performance level I may also win prizes and honour in future,” said Laxmita, student of class IX in the Dasharath Deb state sports school.
The third among five siblings, Laxmita has been practicing football since long against poverty and challenges. Laxmita’s father Churamoni Reang is too poor to properly maintain his five children (three daughter and two sons and wife Binita) with is meagre income.
As a student of class VIII in Bahadurpara senior basic school, Laxmita got her first major break as on the basis of her performance at the state level football, she was selected for the state’s under-14 girls’ football team that performed well in Orissa in the national under-14 girls football championship last year.
Impressed by her performance, the headmaster of the sports school Bikash Ranjan Das arranged for a special admission facility for her in the sports school and she continues here to study as well as to play football. “We got a motor quality test conducted in the sports school by our coaches and Laxmita was found to be best suited for playing as goal keeper and she has been continuing; she has performed well for the state team as goal-keeper in the Subrata Mookherjee cup school football championship twice in Delhi,” said Das.
But Laxmita’s crowning glory came as she was selected for the national under-16 team to participate in the Asia Cup under-16 women championship, played in Beijing. “India performed very well by prevailing over Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Malaysia but lost against south Korea; since Korea had won all the matches they qualified for the quarter final stage from the group but despite non-qualification India and specially Laxmita performed excellently; in the match against Malaysia which India won 3-1, Laxmita also saved a penalty,” said Sports School football coach Abu Taher.
Taher, himself a footballer of repute in yesteryear, said that with proper coaching and support Laxmita will shine brighter in future. Laxmita is quite nonchalant on absence of awards and recognition but worries over the condition of her family; she can continue in sports school on government bounty till the end of her schooling but then worries about earning and the condition of the family that haunts her.
She is expecting at least one of her brothers to finish schooling well and start earning for the other siblings and poor and aged parents.