Sonia Marak is wowing everyone who watches her. She dreams of playing soccer for India, and her coaches think she's good enough. But her family lives in poverty, and it could very well dash her hopes.
The 22-year-old turned heads earlier this month when she scored a hat-trick against Arunachal Pradesh at a semi-professional sports festival in Imphal in Northeast India.
Marak was spotted by selectors in 2015, when she was just a teenager, and given training under the Sports Authority of India ."Sonia has a great game sense and is extremely gifted, as a coach I feel she has a bright future," Chaliha said. Marak recently lost her father to illness, which put her mother in a position of no regular income. She is currently looking for a job to support her family.
During a district meet in 2014, she got noticed by the football fraternity. Her talent was spotted by selectors and in 2015 she was given training under the Sports Authority of India .The SAI is run by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and it's aim is to prepare athletes for professional careers. Marak gets some food and accommodation at the SAI, but until she plays at national and international level, there's no financial compensation.
"I found her very humble and someone who is always smiling, despite not having any luxuries in life," Basumatary said. Bala Devi plays in the Scottish women's Premier League and is the first Indian woman footballer to be signed by a European club."I am so frustrated at times due to financial issues I feel like quitting the sport I love," she said.
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