Namakkal girl in FIFA U-17 WC team

17-year-old is the only player from TN to figure on list of 18 selected from across the country
Mariyammal is a Class 12 student of the government girls higher secondary school, Namakkal. (Photo | EPS)
Mariyammal is a Class 12 student of the government girls higher secondary school, Namakkal. (Photo | EPS)

NAMAKKAL: The team that takes the field in the FIFA U-17 Women’s Football World Cup in 2020 would have a member, whose selection would mark a watershed moment in the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu’s (SDAT) Namakkal chapter’s history. When B Mariyammal (17) would begin patrolling the forward position, she would be the only player from Tamil Nadu to figure on the list of 18 selected from across the country to represent India this edition.

Born into a poor family, Mariyammal could ill-afford the gears that would have taken her game a notch higher. While football was more than a mere sport for her, her parents Balamurugan and Ghandhimathi, working at a handloom unit at Sankari in Salem, could scarcely give her a helping hand. This is where the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu came into picture. 

“When I was in class VIII, I came on the radar of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) in Namakkal. That my brother was a football player only added to my own love for the sport. I could hardly pay for the gears, including boots. That is when my coach Gokila became the pillar of my support, both mental and financial,” the class XII student says.  

Armed with the right training and polished skills, the 17-year-old earned her spurs in junior national level matches at Telangana, Manipur, Odisha, Maharashtra and Goa. The Goa contest in 2018 provided her an apt stage to showcase her talents.

Mariyammal scored 12 goal and her exploits on the field did not fail to catch the attention of the selectors, who immediately sent her to Patiala in Punjab and Cuttack in Odisha for training. In February last, she was sent to Germany for a camp. “Playing competitive matches on foreign shores help the team acclimatise to alien conditions and scale up to international standards,” she adds.  

So what was the takeaway from these camps? “The camps in Punjab and Odisha helped me upscale my technique insofar as receiving and passing the ball were concerned. I made good use of the gym, swimming pool and equipment. Such facilities are missing here (Namakkal). If such equipment are made available to the local talents at SDAT hostels, there is no way our players would not be able to upskill,” she adds.

All these meets and competitions have taken a toll on her studies, but Mariyammal is leaving no stone unturned to catch up. Her coach Gokila told Express that as she was in Goa and Hong Kong, she was not unable to attend her classes after vacation. “She has been going to school for the past five days. Though she needs to write the board exam in 2020, the FIFA world cup is a grand opportunity for her. We plan to approach the headmaster of government girls higher secondary school to sort out the attendance issue,” Gokila said.

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