Piyush Khanore 
AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: Mr. Subrat Das from Odisha is a committed businessman, who has been hugely successful in his professional career. At the same time, he remained a diehard football fan from childhood and has always nurtured a dream of doing something that would take Indian football forward.

So, it was no wonder that in the first available opportunity, Mr. Das launched the Nita Football Academy in Cuttack in 2011, primarily with the aim of developing women footballers from the grassroots at the local level.

Founded in the name of one of his cousins, whose untimely death left a deep scar in his mind, establishing the Nita Football Academy was like sowing the seed that has now grown into a laden tree, ready to spread its roots in Indian women’s football.

Come January 11, the NFA will make their debut in the prestigious Indian Women’s League at Delhi’s Ambedkar Stadium against HOPS Football Club. They are now in elite company after a creditable runners-up finish in the IWL2 last season.

Taking the team to the top level was not a bed of roses; multiple problems cropped up during the journey, especially during the Covid-19 days when everything went topsy-turvy. But Das didn’t lose his focus in promoting local women footballers.

“The team that is now ready to play the IWL has the majority of local players,” he pointed out. “Yes, we do have a few players from West Bengal, Haryana and a couple of foreigners from Ghana, but we also have some talented local girls.

“In the recent Women’s National championships, Odisha finished runners-up and nine of the players were products of our academy. Players from our academy are doing well. Some of them have even been recruited by the Police department.

“It all started one and a half decade ago by recruiting 15 girls from different districts of Odisha. After this, we shifted our base to Cuttack and registered with the district association,” he said.    

Das admitted that running a women’s club in the IWL is not an easy job. “It needs considerable investment. We do not have sponsors, though we might get one sponsor in the near future,” said the Nita Academy chairman.

The new club in the IWL have an experienced coach in Paromita Sit, a former India footballer. She had earlier coached in Bengaluru and then with Sports Odisha, who have withdrawn from the IWL this season.   

Paromita is confident that given the talented players she has in the squad, Nita Academy can aspire to finish among the top three in their inaugural season.  

“The preparations are going well. But my only concern is the players’ recovery time. Because most of the players in our team recently played for the Odisha senior team in the National championships and didn’t get enough recovery time,” Paromita said.

“This IWL is going to be extremely tough. There are eight teams, and all of them are very, very good, especially with each team given the option to play three foreigners. Almost all players are participating in the IWL, so it is going to be a tough competition,” warned the Nita Academy coach.  

Nita Football Academy have two foreign footballers in the squad, both from Ghana. While Sussana Konadu is an experienced centre back, the other player, Gifty Acheampong is a forward, who has represented Ghana U17 National team. Among Indians, they have signed experienced India internationals like Manisa Panna, Yumnam Kamala Devi, Jabamani Tudu and Juli Kishan. Paromita said all are mature footballers and are shaping up well for the IWL.