Football has the power to change lives - read our players' stories

Daughter of a scrap vendor, and a homemaker, Disha has lived in poverty all her life with never enough food to eat or clothes to wear

Disha Lohabare

Playing for Slum Soccer and winning Best Female Player of the Tournament (2009) has given Disha a mission in life, making her realize that that can make a difference in other children’s lives

Disha visits slums encouraging girls to play and works as assistant coach, training the HWC women’s team in 2010

She aspires to complete her graduation and become a professional player

“When I started visiting slums to encourage other kids, I could see that they all wanted to become like me” Disha Lohabare.

Pankaj Mahajan

His journey started with a small step when he kicked a ball for the first time in his life a year ago at one of Slum Soccer’s bi-weekly training sess

Disha Lohabare

Daughter of a scrap vendor, and a homemaker, Disha has lived in poverty all her life with never enough food to eat or clothes to wear

Sheetal Sahu

Sheetal (22 year) is an inspiration for many girls in her community in Dipti Signal, Nagpur. Things weren’t same, as she had a tough childhood.

Reena Panchal

Reena tells the story of what many a girls are facing in her community. She comes from the state of Haryana where girls playing football is frowned upo

Tayyaba Ansari

Born in a staunchly patriarchal, misogynistic, and conservative community where the role of women is restricted to reproduction and household work, Tay

Shiba Markas

Opportunity knocked when Slum Soccer kicked off its DeafKidz Goal! Project. Given her empathy for the differently abled, Shiba grabbed it with both h

Mohd Saad

One look at Saad was enough for coach Ahsan to know that if Saad is not guided in the right direction he would be soon indulging in anti-social activit

Vikas Meshram

One day, when I was 15 years old, I was loitering aimlessly in a stupor when fortune smiled upon me. I saw a group of children along with their coach p

Sheetal Kimatkar

At first glance she looks like any other woman going about her work. It is only when you approach her and start talking you realize that Sheetal Kimmat

Shyam Raghushe

Shyam, 48 years old, belongs to a family with limited means. His father was a government servant but was addicted to alcohol. Later his father got para