Ex-National Hockey Player Is On The Road To Empower More Women Athletes In India

Children who are born w genetic abilities or mental disabilities mental or physical I’ve introduced them to the sports and hockey has been a life savior for so many kids 1757.

The journey of a middle class Muslim girl who beat all the odds to do what she loves.

Tanaz Mohammed, a young Indian is helping young girls do what they love by doing what she loves. She was never an active child, being drawn towards books, never in her wildest dreams did she imagine her future was in the world of sports.

Rooting from a middleclass household, the dream is to become and engineer or a doctor or perhaps land a high paying corporate job. But life had other plans for young Tanaz.

It all started at the minuscule age of 7 when she tried out for the heats at her school sports day and got selected. Ever since then it has been a rollercoaster ride for her. It came as a shock to her parents that a book worm like her had hidden talents in sports. Battling stereotypes and an orthodox mindset she got the go ahead from her parents to take part in various other sporting events and test her talents.

The young Indian branched out and eventually found her calling. She got selected for the hockey team at school and ever since transformed hockey from being just a part of her life to her entire life. Since she was in school her parents supported it as it was just an extracurricular activity. But eventually, when she started college and yet continued with hockey, they began questioning her choices. Being a ‘girl’ the unconventional choice of choosing sports was something unheard of to her family but she didn’t let go so easily. Tanaz played hockey for 19 years both at the national and international level before having to opt for a ‘successful’ career choice since she was a girl.  

Tanaz experimented with her career and left multiple jobs in search for the perfect one. A 9-5 desk job was not her fit but then what was ?

After 2 years of umpteen ups and downs Tanaz knew that sports was her one true love and  if she couldn’t make sports her career, she had to find a career in sports.

That’s when she found out abut sports management and enrolled for a post graduate course. Finance was a major hindrance but she knew she had to find a way because sports was her true calling.

Although Tanaz always knew this is what she was meant to do, towards the end of her course, she achieved the gold rank as student of the year and that’s when her family believed too that this is what Tanaz is meant to do. On completing her course, she was offered an internship with her professor that now has turned into a permanent job. But nothing came easy to her.

The job Tanaz was offered was in the field of football and having no prior experience or knowledge in it, she was filled with doubts of her capabilities. But her professor wasn’t. Tanaz enrolled in multiple courses and became the best at what she is. She is now not only a coach but is certified to coach other trainees and help them achieve what she has today.

However, through this rollercoaster of a journey, Tanaz stumbled upon various speed breakers. She vividly recalls, “In my first football camp I was overwhelmed when I got nearly 1200 registrations but to my dismay they were all boys.” Hailing from a middle class family, she was able to understand and resonate with the orthodox mindset of parents and so she decided to do something about it. The next day she went door to door convincing parents to let their daughters join her football camp, however, there were a few pattern problem she noticed in every household. Clothes was a major barrier along with the lack of female coaches and so with one small conversation Tanaz was able to shun away these self made barriers and took the onus of training the girls herself. Nonetheless, she understood the need for genders to grow equally and so she began training both boys and girls whilst breaking the stereotypes and stigmas that prevailed.

Soon after, principals from local schools began reaching out to her in guidance for training their young female students. Tanaz, the young Indian became a symbol of, anything is possible if you have the fire to do it within you. As she began branching out she was offered the position of the coach in her very own college and was replacing the coach that saw her grow into who she is today. This was the moment she realized the amount she had achieved at such a young age. However, this didn’t sit well with her coach. Tanaz recalls, “Rumors were being spread about my mental health and that I was bullying and victimizing my students.” Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine going through such a traumatic experience. Tanaz went to great lengths to shun down these rumors and eventually got an apology letter stating that the allegations were false.

The young Indian today not only helps girls achieve their dreams but also stands tall as an example that anything is possible. Tanaz may have failed multiple times and struggled for years all because she was a girl but in the end she didn’t give up on her dream and found her true calling.