Soccer: Girls of Bengal's Jaigaon village receive training from FPAI's Israil Gurung

The training offered by the FPAI member is meant to encourage girls between the ages of 12-16 years to pursue football along with their academics.

Israil Gurung has won the I-league with Churchill Bros, had lone stints in the Portuguese second division for Vitoria De Guimaraes B while he was playing for FC Pune City in the Indian Super League (ISL).

The Indian footballer has also represented Mohammedan SC and Mohun Bagan and is currently completing his AFC B license course.

Jaigaon is a remote village with very little infrastructure and most of the families hail from lower economic strata.

Despite parents' apprehension over allowing their daughters into the game, Israil Gurung has been working against the odds to train these girls.

“The biggest challenge here is to convince the parents that the game can be pursued along with studies and they will have a bright future only if they balance both," said Israil Gurung.

"Most of the children here are school drop-outs (since their parents cannot afford their education) and have ended up working as unskilled labourers. I try my level best to put them back to school so that they can come for regular practice, but it is always difficult because of the limited resources we have," he said.

Gurung has been training 55 children and has sent four girls for trials to Indian Women's League (IWL) clubs, while FPAI acts as their intermediary.