Under-17 Women's World Cup:Girl from Red zone dribbles past poverty to be India captain
GUMLA: Gorratoli will have scored a goal when its daughter Astam Oraon takes the field on Tuesday, whatever the outcome.
Oraon’s U-17 soccer team takes on US today
GUMLA: Gorratoli will have scored a goal when its daughter Astam Oraon takes the field on Tuesday, whatever the outcome.
The Adivasi teen from the nondescript tribal village in the Maoist-infested Gumla district of Jharkhand will be Team India‘s captain in the FIFA U-17 women’s world cup tournament that kicks off in Bhubaneswar from Tuesday.
Gorratoli shot to limelight a few months ago after Astam was named part of the senior Indian team. The spotlight became brighter last week when she was anointed U-17 skipper.
If Astam has gone places, her success seems to have opened Gorratoli’s long-shut doors to development: the Gumla district administration has announced a football stadium worth Rs 2 crore in her name and a black-topped road to her village.
“This is to motivate other girls and their families that none should stop dreaming big. A stadium after her name will set the tone for other girls to come out, play and make it big,” said Gumla deputy commissioner Sushant Gaurav.
Gaurav was speaking a few months ago when Astam became part of the senior team and he visited her village to felicitate her father Heeralal Oraon and mother Tara Devi.
