Man who braved bombs in Kashmir now coaches Indian women’s football team
He braved bombs and bullets to play football in the thick of militancy in Kashmir and now, he is coaching India’s women soccer team.
Forty-two-year-old Sajid Yousuf Dar has become the first and only Kashmiri so far to coach any Indian soccer team for international events. In the last week of November, All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced that it has entrusted Dar with the responsibility of coaching the Women National Football Team for the upcoming South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) women’s championship 2016.
Dar said the team was gearing up for the championship, which is slated in Siliguri from December 26, along with Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
“We have to be on our toes to defend the title as more and more countries in the region are working and developing their game,” Dar, who is now in Srinagar, said.
Owing to his impressive record as coach for the under-14 and under-19 boys’ soccer teams of the country, Dar was roped in by the AIFF for the women’s team in March 2015 when the team was going to play for the Olympic qualifiers.
He was also chosen as the technical advisor for football development in India. Under his guidance, the women’s team got gold in the 12th South Asian Games this year.
“The AIFF provided us with the facilities and we had enough time to prepare leading to our success. I am proud that our women’s team got gold. The men’s team had to settle for silver,” he says.
Dar has come a long way since when he started to play football in Shri Pratap (SP) Higher Secondary School in 1991-92.
In fact, football is in his blood. His, father Mohammad Yousuf, was the first Kashmiri to play any international game for the Indian team.
But pursuing the game with violence all around was never easy for Dar. Owing to mass protests against Indian rule, curfew used to be imposed for days altogether in the early 1990s. “They would give relaxation for a few hours and I would rush to the ground to play,” Dar remembers.
Dar started training youngsters and went for different coaching courses, AFC licenses and degrees (BPEd and MPEd) in physical education and also started coaching Kashmir University team since 2006.
“My first break at national level came in 2012 when I was chosen as assistant coach by AIFF for the under 19 boys’ team,” he said.
Since then, there has been no looking back for Dar.