How Himachal goalkeeper Pravin Kumari overcame social barriers to keep football dream alive

New Delhi [India], January 7 (ANI): Pravin Kumari has spent most of her life standing her ground, first against social barriers in a remote Himachal Pradesh village, and now between the goalposts on the football field.
A fighter by instinct, the 26-year-old Pravin has fought social resistance, limited resources and personal hardship to carve out her place in the game, emerging as one of the prominent faces of Himachal Pradesh's growing women's football movement, as per a press release from SAI Media.
And at the Khelo India Beach Games 2026 being played at the Ghoghla Beach here in Diu, it was Pravin's never-say-die attitude, despite taking a heavy knock on her leg, that helped the Himachal Pradesh women's team register a come-from-behind win over hosts Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu in their debut women's Beach Soccer match on Monday.
The 26-year-old Pravin made several crucial saves to ensure that the hosts did not run away with the match at the start of the third quarter and inspired her team to score goals late in the match to win 7-5.
Born in Khatgaon village in Himachal Pradesh's Una district to a daily-wage mason, Pravin is the youngest of three siblings and today carries the responsibility of supporting her family. She balances her sporting ambitions with her role as a physical education teacher at a private school in Una, ensuring financial stability at home while continuing to nurture her passion for football.
Pravin's entry into the sport was anything but conventional. At a time when girls in her village were discouraged from taking up sports, Pravin began training with boys, undeterred by social resistance or the absence of structured coaching. What started as solitary determination soon turned into a collective belief. Gradually, she gathered a few girls around her, forming a small, informal unit that trained without resources, guidance or regularity, but with conviction.
"Life is not easy, especially when a girl wants to pursue sports. Ten years back, when I started training, our village would only encourage boys. There was no place for girls. I started training with boys, but then gradually got a few more girls to play. Without any formal training, it was inconsistent, but we wanted to set the tone for the next generation of girls, and gradually things are falling in place. Now we have a full team, and we compete regularly in local tournaments," Pravin told SAI Media.
The Himachal Pradesh team also set a new tone at the Khelo India Beach Games 2026 in what was its first real tryst with Beach Soccer. The team trains in a specially prepared sand field for about 10 days, but playing on the beach was still a challenge as the game is faster and players get tired quite soon.
But to their credit, the Himachal Pradesh team had held on to their own in the first two quarters with the score being locked at 4-4 before Pravin suffered a leg injury and the team conceded a goal. But once she returned to the field after treatment, as Beach Soccer allows rolling substitution, Pravin kept egging her teammates and also kept them in the hunt by thwarting the DNH&DD attacks.
"The injury came at a crucial phase, we had almost wasted the initial lead, but credit to the girls for bouncing back at the right time. Overall we are very happy with the performance, but this is just the start, and we need to keep the momentum now," Pravin said. (ANI)