Bala Devi, Manisha Kalyan named winners of annual AIFF awards
Nineteen-year-old Manisha, who is also a forward, was named the Women's Emerging Footballer of the Year for the first time and expressed her delight at being named for the honour.
Ace Indian footballer Bala Devi has described playing for Rangers Women FC as a “whole new experience”, where she gets to share the pitch with a number of quality players from various countries.
Recently, Bala became the first Indian woman footballer to score in a professional league in Europe when she netted against Motherwell.
“It’s a different country and a whole new experience. There are many players from Scotland, Canada, USA, France. It’s a huge challenge for me but I am gaining a lot of experience from them as well. But most of the time we talk about football so it’s a good thing for me,” said Bala during a chat with AIFF TV.
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The 29-year-old went on to explain the way technological developments in the world have been put to use, in order to help the football players at the club.
“Nowadays we have to wear GPS in our boots which allows the team to track how each player is performing. How much we touch the ball with both feet, how much distance we cover at what intensity. So all the players try to give their 100 per cent during the sessions.”
Bala, who has been living in Glasgow since her move to the club, has had to go through the phase of the worldwide lockdown in the Scotland capital, where she continued her indoor training.
While she did have to adjust to life in Scotland, the India international believes that the football she is playing at Rangers is similar to that back home, with a few changes.
“I am playing the same way I was playing back home. But over here the game needs to be played with a bit more physicality. The players are strong and I had to adjust to the weather. But I had gradually worked on it and its much better now,” said the 30-year-old.
“I miss home at times, but I know the purpose behind coming here and so many people have expectations from me. I just need to continue giving my best,” she added.
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