12 aspiring coaches from Yuwa doing training in this foreign country

XtraTime Web Desk: Aspiring football coaches from Yuwa, a Jharkhand-based NGO working for girl empowerment, are currently undergoing a two-week advance level football training program at Real Sociedad football club in Spain.

The coaches are being directly trained by the players of the academy, which is one of the most popular clubs playing at La Liga, the Spanish football league. The girls shook hands, joked and played football with Arsene Wenger and Boris Becker when they were in Monaco recently to receive the Laureus Sport for Good award on behalf of their school, Yuwa.


The training program has been thoughtfully designed to enhance the tactical and management skills of the selected aspiring coaches, who will then use their learning and experiences to train the teams back in India.

The 12 selected trainees coach 180 girls alongside mentoring and guiding other football coaches for YUWA.

“While society teaches girls to fit in, Yuwa coaches teach girls to stand out. With long-standing support from BookASmile, we’re thrilled for our coaches to have the opportunity to train with a world-class La Liga team,” said Franz Gastler, co-founder YUWA.

“The group of ten young women and two men will be taking their experience back to over 450 girls playing every day in nine villages in Jharkhand,” he added.

Kusum Kumari, a 17-year-old football player, coach, and student at YUWA said: “This is my first visit overseas to learn how to coach. I’m excited to understand how we can structure our football sessions practically on the ground, from Real Sociedad. I hope to apply my learnings from Spain to my team at Yuwa.” The group will be training at San Sebastian, Spain till March 11.