Moms’ day out at CM Trophy: A football date for girls' school alumni

CHENNAI: When entries were invited for teams to take part in the Chief Minister's Trophy, L Dhanalakshmi, the 36-year-old physical education teacher at Immaculate Girls’ School in Avadi egged on the alumni to register under the category for the general public. There were only three entries for Women's football in Tiruvallur district, all alumni of the same school.

In the final, which she dubbed "90's kids versus 2K kids" of Immaculate FC, Dhanalakshmi predicted that the younger ones would win the cup. However, while the teacher has evidently kept herself abreast of the internet lingo, she probably was not up to date with the capabilities of the senior players who won. "I could not have been happier to be wrong. Experience prevailed," Dhanalakshmi told DT Next. The scores were level at the end of full time and the seniors won 3-2 on penalties.

Though she did not study in the same school as the players, Dhanalakshmi had played with them in her junior days representing Tiruvallur district. "It is a sweet coincidence that I would become a physical education teacher in their school and can do this for them," she said.

Most members of the 90's kids team, though out of practice and not in the best of their fitness, had aces up their sleeves. In M Nandini and Shobana Selvam, the team had two active players. Nandini was the captain of the Tamil Nadu team that beat Manipur in 2018 for the State's first senior national championship. Shobana, also a former Tamil Nadu player, too, was part of the team that beat Manipur in the final of a national championship – but that was in the hit film, Bigil, in which she acted. Nandini is a Postal Department staff while Shobana plays in the Karnataka league and is a college football coach. Both of them were the only unmarried women in the winning team.

But, the victory that the duo scripted on Monday in the Chief Minister's Trophy along with their friends from school, who had to abandon football due to family circumstances, was as sweet as any of the major trophies they have won.

For most of the team members, the pre-match talks involved more of catching up on lives and banter about their husbands. At the end of the day on September 23 though, they were filled with a sense of joy and contentment and camaraderie, which most of them last experienced over a decade ago.

A Preethi (30), a single mother who had to drop out of school and got married in 2012, found a second lease of life with football. She trains beginners at a local academy in Tiruvallur since 2020 to support her two children. "Sema (great) enjoyment," she recalled her feelings at the end of the match. "I was telling the girls that we should meet up at least once a month for a football match.” All these years, they met only when a former teammate got married.

Preethi said that her family situation forced her to be inspired to take care of her kids and the only thing she remembered being good at was Football and chose to assist trainers in a local football academy. "My second child, daughter, who is class 5 plays football too and I wish to support her all the way," Preethi said.

US Vijayakumari (32), who gave birth to her second child earlier this year, said she was not expecting the match to be competitive. A machine operator at a central government facility in Avadi, Vijayakumari's heydays were in the past, when she was a school student who was part of the Tamil Nadu Under-19 team.

"I thought it was going to be very relaxed. Midway, I told Dhana Akka (the teacher) that if my sutures came off, she should pool the money for my operation," Vijayakumari quipped with a laugh, adding "Sometimes we call her as Akka, sometimes as miss and at times when she gets on our nerves, we call her other things."

The prize money for the winners, a mere Rs 3000 might not be much, but the joy the women felt is, as the cliches go, is priceless. "As a senior, coach and their well wisher, I was very happy to see many of them all kitted up and play competitive sport after years," Dhanalakshmi said.

There was a regret, too, one that was shared by Preethi, Vijayakumari and the other mothers in the team: that their kids could not watch them play because of the quarterly examinations.