Nepal’s Women’s team is getting ambitious. They have their eyes on the number two spot in the South Asia region and they are gunning for the spot. If they manage to achieve this desire, it will be quite the feat as the team has only existed for three years and does not even have an FIH World Ranking.
With Women’s Day upon us, the story of Nepal’s Women’s team is an inspirational one for women all across the globe. The passion being displayed by this team to reach the top echelon of the sport is truly remarkable. If they are to achieve this, they will set an example for all women’s teams to follow in the region.
Nepal’s national women’s team came into being in 2015. It has a squad of 30 players which comprises of high school girls, college students, and women playing in the adult league.
In order to tackle the challenge of training and coaching of the team, the AHF in coordination with the NHA have come up with a solution that is bound to skyrocket the team up the rankings. A training camp has been set up in Lahore, Pakistan where the Nepal team will benefit from training from FIH high-performance educators and AHF experts. Nepal’s very own coaches will also benefit from high-level coaching courses and share experiences with international coaching experts in Lahore. And it goes without saying, that while at the training camp the team will get to go head to head with Pakistani clubs and provincial teams.
According to our very own Taimoor Waqar at the AHF, the female players will also be given assistance in their careers apart from hockey. “We also aim to provide career development and job opportunities for women athletes, in order for them to mainly focus on the game with a sense of career security”, says Taimoor.
One of the problems facing the team in this model (and other South Asian as well) is that of travel costs. As most players are also students or have careers, balancing studying/work with hockey is a challenge. Add to that the cost of traveling from Nepal to Lahore, and the whole thing requires much more commitment.
“It is definitely a challenge,” says Taimoor. “But, with our aligned objectives, strategic direction, focus on development, highly skilled staff and very close ties with the national associations we are making progress across the South Asia region.”
