Boys out, girls in: How Muslim girls in Hyderabad kicked down barriers with football

For 17 years, Saba has called Chatta Bazaar her home. But it was not until April that she finally saw the inside of the local public playground — just about 600 metres from her home, in one of the many constricted gullies of Hyderabad’s Old City.This had happened not because the gates of the ground — popular, ironically, as Balsetty Khet Ground (a ground for children) — were closed. It was just an unsaid rule of the neighbourhood: women, stay out.But now, for the first time, an army of young Muslim girls from the area have kicked down the traditional practice and dribbled their way into the centre, reclaiming their right to the public space.

What started small in 2022, as part of the Girls on Ground initiative by Hyderabad-based NGO SAFA India — and had to be briefly stalled, owing to lack of funding — now has about 60 girls, aged between 7 and 17, on board.

Every evening, at least half this squad, many of them with hijabs pinned around their head, gather at the playground for a game of football, complete with coaches, gear and a warm-up regime.And while it is heartening to see the Messi and Ronaldo jerseys glisten in the afternoon sun as the adolescent footballers shoot for goal, what transpires right outside the ground’s gates is even more encouraging: local boys leaning on the railing, playing spectator to a sport they once believed was their fief.

They wait patiently for the girls to finish before taking the field.“This transition has taken a while,” says Rubina Nafees Fatima, president of SAFA. She says the project was met with stiff resistance. “Nobody had ever seen a woman set foot on the ground before, and this change wasn’t welcome. Onlookers gathered all around, impatiently waiting for the girls to leave. It took weeks of consistently showing up, to change the tide in our favour,” she adds.Today, the neighbourhood has not just warmed to the sight of the girls taking over the ground between 4pm and 6pm, but has also made this evening ritual a part of their daily routine.The girls are overjoyed. “I love that I can finally get to play here with my cousins and friends,” says 14-year-old Marzia, who has been hailed as a local ‘champ’ for her many achievements at stateand nationallevel footfall over the years. The seasoned midfielder admits that “playing with the boys at the local club is competitive, but not comfortable.”“Here, we can just be ourselves,” says Mina, another teenage local star, who loves to dominate the forward position. “Everybody gets their chance, there’s no insecurity.” The team’s goalkeeper and defender, Kaushar, nods in agreement. “The game teaches us about the power of unity, to be in control of our lives. This is sure to help us in the long run,” the 15-year-old adds.The excitement of an exclusive play area is palpable even among the tiny tots sitting on the bench, cheering for their favourites as the game kicks off.

“I rush here after school. I don’t miss a single day,” says Masooma, who’s in Class 4, among the youngest in the team.And when the team huddles during break to cheer for Girls on Ground, the little footballer jumps in first to proudly announce that she’ll grow up to become “just like Messi”.Health Issues In CheckAccess to the playground has done much more than make a social statement. It’s helped the girls beat health issues — anaemia, asthma, diabetes and arthritis have been kept in check through consistent practice.Umm al-Banin, for instance, had blood sugar levels upwards of 350 when she joined the squad at the ground in Darulshifa four months ago. “Now, her condition is not as bad as it used to be,” says Imam Hussain, director (operations) at SAFA, about the 11-year-old who adores Ronaldo. According to him, this is true of many of the girls — owing to poor nutrition at home. Asthma is another grave concern. “There are some players who, when they started out, couldn’t even complete one round of the ground because of this.

Now, they do multiple rounds comfortably,” he adds.Even 12-year-old Wajiha Fatima used to have trouble with training because early-onset arthritis made her knees weak. Today, she is a state-level player. Her mother, Butool Fatima, who escorts her to the playground every day, wears her victories with pride.“When we were growing up, I couldn’t imagine a playground just for girls. Our playtime ended at school. So, when this initiative started, I was certain to enrol my daughter, come what may,” Butool says.