The efforts made by AIFF is also a reflection of the government’s policy to encourage sports and sportsperson to produce and unearth potential Olympic champions. In this endeavour, the government has successfully initiated the Khelo India project, encouraging school students to participate and compete in sports. Achieving Sports Milestone by Inspiring Women Through Action (ASMITA)is a flagship initiative under the overall Khelo India Scheme. The U13 ASMITA Football League 2025-26 officially kicked off in Bengaluru on 27th July and it will subsequently take place across the country. Smt. Raksha Khadse, Minister of State, Youth Affairs and Sports, at the Godavari Engineering College Ground in Jalgaon, Maharashtra said, “This league isn’t just about sports; it’s about breaking barriers.”

Our region has recently been doing well in women’s football. Debanjan Share Girls’ Academy, Kalimpong —the only residential football academy for girls in West Bengal —is leading the way. Three of its players, Palmu Tamang, Sushanna Rai and Supriya Gurung were part of the Bronze Medal-winning Bengal Women’s Football Team in the 38th National Games held at Uttarakhand. One of the academy’s coaches says that the younger girls are even better, pointing towards the brighter prospect of the sport in the hills.

Recently, the girls from Pakhabari High School qualified for the cluster level Subrata Cup and two of their players have been called to attend the selection camp for the West Bengal state team. Girls from Ramakrishna Girls’ High School are also putting up great performances every time. They have frequently been participating at the state level tournaments and one of their players is playing as a professional in the Bhutan League. The girls from our region are doing astonishingly well in football with minimum support and facilities. The schools mentioned above do not even have standard size football field.

Most of the players belong to the lower economic strata and struggle to buy proper kits at times and have to overcome many other existential difficulties. These difficulties and challenges have not stopped them from pursuing the game. Rather with their will and determination and dedication, have transformed the challenges into opportunities. Most of the schools today are encouraging female students to pursue one or the other sport and football has emerged as the most popular sport. There are training centers run by former players and girls are joining these centers. They are being encouraged to play football by their schools and parents. The teachers are negotiating for a reduced fee for their students and at times also bearing the expenses themselves.

The purpose of highlighting this existential reality is to make the point that AIFF has overlooked a potential area for finding talent by excluding Darjeeling as a center for the ASMITA Tournament. This is a significant gap in their thought process. It will become difficult for our girls to participate in a situation where they have to travel a long distance which entails expenditure.  The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration and primarily the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Sports Association have to play a pivotal role to ensure, that there is maximum participation from our region and provide an opportunity to the players to participate.

They should negotiate for our teams to participate in the Sikkim leg of the tournament, as this will allow us to participate with girls with a similar physical background and also the climatic conditions, which are so concomitant with the performance level. These two bodies need to act soon and put in place a proper plan and vision for sports development in the region and also raise the awareness of development at the national level, and assist all those who are pushing us to find our space at the national level. Fortunately, for our region, now we have Crispin Chettri as the Head Coach of the Indian Women’s Football team. He can be an inspiration and instrumental in convincing AIFF to have Darjeeling as a center for future such tournaments.

The Government of India has recently introduced the National Sports Governance Bill, 2025, in the Parliament. It is a very well-timed initiative and is synchronous with the efforts being made to produce Olympic champions. The Sports Bill looks at issues of governance and in this endeavour, has envisaged participation from the district level. We have two districts in the hills and if the representatives are selected selflessly then sports in the region can improve and develop immensely. However, Darjeeling and Kalimpong district authorities have to start doing their homework from now onwards. First and foremost, in every possible sports, the regulating body for men’s and women’s sports should be separated. Women members should lead the Women’s Sports bodies. Doing this we will have a greater representation as these members will have a role to play in the decision making process as well, as selection of members of the body at the next higher level. Looking at the unadulterated and profound willingness and dedication of the school teachers, it is a must that they are part of the core members.

Doing this will give immense opportunities to our players and budding talents and also motivate the teachers who are doing everything under their control to encourage and facilitate the girls’ participation in different tournaments. They are buying boots and kits for many of these girls who can ill afford to buy themselves. They are spending money from their pockets and requesting their colleagues to contribute, as the fund allocation for sports in the schools is conspicuously insufficient.

The FIFA Talent Academy is launched in Telangana recently and the purpose is to provide training of the highest quality to girls scouted from across India. This is the most prestigious component of FIFA Talent Development scheme. If league tournaments under the ASMITA scheme is held in Darjeeling it will provide opportunities never experienced before to all the talented girls of our region.

Mesdames Kamala miss from Darjeeling, Sushma miss from Ramakrishna Girl’s High School, Kurseong, and from Kalimpong Girl’s Higher Secondary School,  Merina miss, Nirmal Sir from Mirik, Hemant Sir from Pakhabari High School and many more are at the forefront to bring the girls from the kitchen to the field and such opportunities will vindicate their hard work and dedication and further encourage them to serve the game we all love so much selflessly and bring laurels to the region and community. The time has come for the girls to not just play football but also break the patriarchal barriers that have stopped them from breaking the glass ceiling in every sphere of their existence.

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Crispin Chettri, the head coach of the Indian National Womens’ Football Team was a part of United Kurseong Football Club (UKFC), and I have witnessed his growth and transformation as a player, coach, and a person – writes Dr. Binu Sundas

When I came home for my summer vacation, the foremost thing on my mind was to organize a long-overdue get-together with my friends, the founding members of United Kurseong Football Club (UKFC). This visit also coincided with the Indian Women’s Football team qualifying for the AFC-Asian Cup 2026, to be held in Australia. Like all football lovers in India, and especially in Darjeeling, I was following the matches keenly, hoping that India would qualify. Of particular interest to me was that the Coach of the Indian contingent was Shri. Crispin Chettri, a local Kurseong boy and a former UKFC player.

The crucial qualifying match against Thailand, a much higher-ranked team, would be a difficult one. However, Team India beat them convincingly and along with the commendable performance of our footballers, this credit must also go to the coach, Crispin. His bold moves, tactical genius, and clear-headed strategy helped achieve a milestone in Indian football. Prior to this India had not qualified on merit. The first time when the Indian Women’s Team played in the Women’s AFC- Asian Cup they were invited. The second time they were to participate was as a host in 2022, but unfortunately due to COIVD-19 the host had to pull out.

Crispin was a part of United Kurseong Football Club (UKFC), and I have witnessed his growth and transformation as a player, coach, and a person. Crispin was born to be a sportsman, and as a youngster he excelled at all team sports, be it cricket, volleyball, or basketball. When we first scouted him, he was immediately drafted into the club. He gradually adjusted to the rigorous practice sessions of UKFC and quickly became an integral part of the UKFC team. At the time, we knew that he was a remarkable footballer, but no one could have imagined that he would attain such heights. He was loved by all for his down-to-earth personality and the respect he showed to the UKFC players and staff. An important quality that led to his success is that Crispin has always been a keen observer of the game and open to input from his seniors. These qualities of humility, focus and, dedication took him places. While playing for UKFC, he was spotted by Shyam Thapa, the legend of Indian football, and was selected to join his academy. Since then, his growth has been phenomenal. Crispin went on to represent the biggest clubs of India and represented Bengal, Maharashtra, and Assam in the Santosh Trophy.

Even as a young footballer, Crispin has always had a clarity regarding his future, and this, along with his determination and dedication, has been instrumental in his success. Over the years, we kept hearing about his successes, but the humble guy that he is, Crispin never forgot his roots. He was constantly in touch with UKFC, training players when he was home, chalking out plans and strategies for the club to grow. He also contributes financially every month to the club, like all the founding members, and continues to be a part of the UKFC family.

Crispin holds a bachelor’s degree in Physical Sciences and is a licensed coach. With football coursing through his veins, he couldn’t simply cut off all ties with the game so today we see him in his role as the Head Coach of the Indian National Women’s Football Team. However, coaching a women’s sport in India is not an easy task. The players and coaches face challenges of patriarchy, limited infrastructure, and a conspicuous lack of support from the industries in the form of sponsorships. While other teams had their chefs and nutritionists, Crispin and his team faced difficulties as they were not accustomed to the food in Thailand. He had to approach the embassy and organise Indian food for the team. This was not part of his job, but his determination to do well and create history was of greater importance than his job profile. As always, this Gorkha son rose to the occasion, overcoming the obstacle and today, the Blue Tigress is heading to Australia.

Crispin’s achievement and contribution to the nation should be documented in the annals of Gorkha history. This beleaguered community has been fighting to establish its identity in India for a long time. Crispin’s achievement is historical not only for the nation but also for the Gorkha community. The Gorkha community of the country has to be thankful to Crispin for bringing the community into the imagination of the nation.

Thank you, Crispin, for making the Blue Tigress one of the 12 top teams in Asia and Australia, providing recognition to the Gorkha community, and representing UKFC. The qualification to the Women’s AFC Asian Cup has also brought Indian men’s football, which has been witnessing its share of difficulties and obstacles, into the limelight and has contributed directly as well as indirectly to resolving the issues. Your legacy, which you have built on determination, dedication, grit, passion, and love for the sport, will remain forever and inspire generations in the future.  Your achievement with the Indian Women’s Football team will always be remembered and enshrined in the history of Indian football.

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Saharman Dewan was born in Ging Tea estate to Shri Harka Bahadur and Suklachhi Dewan on 16th of July 1939. He was only 6 years old when his father passed away, and was brought up by his aunt (mother’s sister) and her loving husband. Losing a father so early in life was difficult, but Saharman persevered with the help and support from his new family. Under their guidance, Saharman studied up to class 8 at Ging Primary School and finished his schooling from Rama Krishna Educational Institute (RKPS).

His uncle Shri. Ambar Singh Rai used to be an official at the British Gorkha Recruiting Depot at Jalapahar, and Saharman joined the Army as a “Boy Bhartee.” In 1954, Saharman joined the Gorkha Boys Company at Dehradun and that is when under the care and supervision of British coach Mr Dennis Nevelle he shined as a footballer. After playing in a few inter-army tournaments he was selected to play for the Gorkha Brigade team in 1960 and later Services Team.

In 1961 his brilliant solo goal in the finals helped the Services Team to lift the prestigious Santosh Trophy National Football Tournament, held at Municipal Stadium, Calicut. His performance was rewarded and he was promoted to the rank of Havaldar.

In 1965 he captained and coached the Gorkha Brigade Team for Durand Cup which included one of the most iconic of all Indian footballers – Shyam Thapa,.The team included other Gorkhali greats Venu Subba, Prem Tamang, Aslam Thapa, Tarenza Subba, and Tej Bahadur Thapa – unfortunately they lost the semi-final match to Mohun Bagan that year.

Playing for Gorkha Brigade he helped the team to win Robert’s Cup, Nijam Cup (Hyderabad), Shri Krishna Cup (Patna), Santosh Trophy, IFA Shield and many other football tournaments all over the country.

After that Saharman remained in 11GRRC as a Coach and trained them for participation in Gorkha Brigade, Command and Services team.

In 1969, Saharman was transferred to 107 Inf Bn (TA) for training their footballers. Saharman participated as a coach and player and helped them to win many tournaments including Mall Shield and the coveted Harley Cup.

In 1970 Saharman was promoted to the rank of JCO and he retired from service in 1973.

After retirement Saharman joined St. Joseph’s College as their football coach and his coaching skills were on full display when St. Joseph’s College lifted the Harley Cup.

When 11 GR came to Darjeeling, Saharman was again appointed coach for Regimental team and remained its coach from 1976 to 1982. During his period 11GR won all the football tournaments held in Darjeeling – Darjeeling League, Harley Cup, Yashoda Giri Cup and Dorjee Gold Cup in Kalimpong.

Later he trained various Army teams who were station at Lebong – 7 Madras, 26 Madras, 3/9 GR and 8 Assam.

In 2004 and 2005 he coached the 107 Inf Bn (TA) and helped them to lift the DAS Memorial Cup Championship played at 11 GRRC, Lucknow in 2005.

Saharman Dewan settled in Ging Tea Estate, Lebong but he never gave up his association with football. He played for 14 years as a 1st class player and coached for the rest of his life. His invaluable teachings and mentorship have helped shaped the lives of many footballers from our beloved hills.

Sadly during the course of our collecting info on his incredible life, Shri. Saharman Dewan passed away on August 11, 2014.

TheDC team keeps him and his family members in our prayers and we hope that all of you will join us in praying for the departed soul and an iconic son of Darjeeling!!

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Basically football has been very popular in Darjeeling hills from time immemorial, and of the many clubs that are renowned all over Darjeeling, the Ghoom-Jorebunglow Sporting Club (GJSC or more popularly known as GJ) stands out as one of the most loved clubs. Each match of GJ is watched by thousands of fans from Jorebungla and Ghoom region, who travel in style – hundreds of trucks, land rovers, zongas, maruti vans and buses.

If we were in Argentina, I am sure GJ fans would be like the Boca Junior fans, in England like the Liverpool fans, in Germany like the Dortmund fans, in Spain like the Barcelona fans, in old India like the Mohun Bagan fans, and in new India like the North-East United fans.

Loud, Proud, Rowdy and Fanatical!!

Tales are told to the young ones in Jorebungla about the football glory days of GJ, and how it was actually the fans who helped win this tournament or that, and not really the players. That when once the team did not win the final game, how a GJ fan from Jorebungla actually stole the winner’s cup and brought it home, his only comment after revealing the cup in Jorebungla – “La tero cup” and the whole football mad fans are supposed to have cried out in unison –

“harye panee… jitye panee… GJ – GJ”

Legends of Darjeeling football like Dil Prasad Rai (ex-Darjeeling Police and Bhutan National Team Coach), Suren Pakhrin – JOJO (ex-Aryan Football Club), Kundan Thapa, Dhaneshwar Prasad, Uttam Gurung all represented GJ at various stages in their career, and it was these legend whose legacies the people of Ghoom-Jorebungla were expected to carry forward.

Back in 1990s DGHC had started this Mahakal Cup which was famed for giving away Rs 1 Lakh as prize, back then GJ had split into two GJ and Shiva Shakti, and if I remember correctly Shiva Shakti won the tournament all three times before they stopped hosting it.

One of the most memorable games from one edition of the tournament was played between Shiva Shakti and Darjeeling Police, it was the semi-final game played at Lebong Ground, almost everyone above the age of 12 from Ghoom-Jorebungla had I think gone to see the match. It was a festive affair, till when Gopal referee erroneously awarded a goal to the Police team, which the GJ players objected to, as the linesman had lifted the offside flag. Following the protest by GJ players, Gopal referee decided to not award the goal and awarded a free kick to GJ instead.

This pissed off the police players, who were already down by two goals I think, and they started to misbehave with the referee, to the extent, one of them in fact landed a punch on the referee. It went downhill after that, apparently Mr. Gopal’s wife or daughter was in the stands, saw it all happen and could not stop herself. She entered the ground, got Gopal referee to take off his jersey and she started to tear it up right there on the ground, amidst loud cheer from all the GJ fans.

The police team could not take it anymore and there was a scuffle amongst players, to which GJ fans naturally reacted and started to shout and yell against the police team, at this the police who were there on duty to maintain peace lost their cool and ended up hitting one of the GJ fans – it was pandemonium after that.

I won’t go into details of what happened, but let me put it this way, the police team, and the police on duty themselves had to be escorted out safely by senior GJ functionaries – go figure. Later on our way back home from Lebong, each of the vehicle full of GJ supporters stopped in front of the home guard office in Darjeeling town and chanted

“Sungur ko Pattha…. Police Ja**ha”

No policemen or women dared come outside to stop us.

Such is the passion when it comes to football in Jorebungla and also by extension Ghoom. But this article is not about GJ, it’s about the best and most honest football tournaments in the world “Inter-Jorebungla.”

When I was growing up, there were a few teams that were notoriously legendary even within Jorebungla. Milan Samity – one of the main football teams of Jorebungla, which was a feeder for GJ, other one was Rising Sun from Diary which had the legendary goal keeper Suren Subba (popularly known as langade Suren in Jorebungla), Tiger 7 which consisted of players who worked in tourism office up there in Tiger Hill, and Young Blood – which consisted of upstarts and younger crops of players who were sort of a rebel team from Garidhura-Bichgaon, and even their goal keeper Late. Palu Wangdi was legendary.

Within Jorebungla the legend of Palu and Suren’s enmity is so profound that I could write a whole article dedicated to them. But both were goal keepers from rival teams, and notoriously anti-each-other.

One of the game which I still remember was being played between Rising Sun whose goalkeeper was Suren and Young Blood whose goalkeeper was Palu, something had happened and the game was on hold. The two teams were sitting on the ground in their respective half, and the crowd was all, you know, being crowd – “dhilo bhaa… paisa farka” kinds…

So Palu starts walking towards the other half, remember he is a goal keeper hai, gets past the halfway mark and all of a sudden starts to yell – “Surennnnnnnnnn… Tero A**… K bhanis toiley malai…” and ran towards Suren… and before Suren could get up, stuck him with a Vogals boot (do you remember those?), Suren was flat on the ground… and Palu left the field. The game was abandoned after that.

I mean where else do you get to see such action in the middle of a football tournament?

When I started to play soccer, basically there were three main tournaments that used to be hosted, Tik Hang Memorial organized by the Four Square club – which consisted of two Dimple and two Pema and hence the name Four Square Club – in the memory of late Tik Hang Subba who had unfortunately drowned while swimming – this was inter-Samesty tournament. Another was Sushil Memorial organized by 7 Brothers Club in the memory of Late. Sushil Subba who had died due to a disease when he was in the prime of his life, and the Dil Prasad Rai Memorial which was organized by the Regent’s Club.

All the games were played in 7 a side format, with 2 reserve players each and was held at Rangbull Ground. If you want to see a naturally gorgeous football ground, check out Rangbull Ground, it is hands down one of the best naturally developed football ground in Darjeeling.

What makes Inter-Jorebungla football tournaments amazingly beautiful is not the quality of the play or the player, but the festivity which surrounds the games. People from all walks of life, in all physical shape join the tournament, with majority joining to play for fun, instead of wanting to win the tournament.

If you don’t believe me check out some of the team names, they are a dead give-away to how much fun Inter-Jorebungla actually is – here are some samples:

Bol Bam – Consisting of players who were Shiva Bhakta of the other kind
Mango 7 – Named after the team captain whose head was shaped like a Mango
Khaini 7 – Consisting of players, who all consumed khaini
Thaili 7 – Consisting of players with deep pockets, mostly from business community
Kheldyum 7 – Consisting of players who wanted to play
Phipsing 7 – Consisting of players renowned for their love of Phipsing
Water Supply – Consisting of players who work as drivers and cleaners in water tanks

There was also a team called Lashkar-e-Tayiba once

There is no doubt in my mind that if there is honest football played anywhere in the world, it has to be in Jorebungla. No one is playing to win, but everyone is playing for fun.

The players are crazy you might think, the fans are even crazier, cheers of:

‘Liti-Piti Liti-Piti – Swattai Goal‘

‘Rangbull ko Ground ma – Bhoom-Chyaak Bhoom-Chyaak‘

‘Kipper Kasto – Chumbak Jasto‘

‘Defense Kasto – Bhitta Jasto‘

‘Forward Kasto – Chituwa Jasto‘

‘Kolley Jityooo – Hameee Le‘

and if there was a good player on the opposite side, chants of

‘Kangba-la tey-tye… Kangba-la tyer‘ [Kangba = foot in Tibetan, rest you can add up]

could be heard all around the ground…

If someone fell the whole ground would start singing – ‘Tandarustee ki Raksha Karta Hai Lifeboy….‘

If the goalkeeper was not good, shouts of ‘Tyo goalkeeper chalni jastoi cha… chuncha… chuncha… tadoi bara haan‘ could be heard.

If the goalkeeper refused to dive to save a ball, the whole ground would shout out ‘Lar na oie lar… Buru mo luga dhui-dinchu‘

If the goalkeeper did dive and his clothes became dirty, the whole ground would sing – ‘Washing Powder Nirma… Washing Powder Nirma‘

Every once in a while, fights would break out between the supporters, instead of the players… sometime even the ladies would get involved.

That is how passionate it got… Imagine hearing, “Baltu (as in nut-bolt) Ramesh ko Choree le Handle Passang ko gyass lai kya chyak-ki-chyak deko nee…”

But don’t let the names of various teams or craziness of the supporters fool you, as they do not suggest the quality of those playing… my own peers were amazing players – everyone in Jorebungla even to this day talk of Debrey Pritam, his left foot was so potent that if he got the ball to go to his left foot, chances that he would score were very high, his right one was useless though. Then there was Scissor Karma – his scissor shot was legendary for having gone with such force that it tore the net. Then there was Diving Ganesh – whose prowess in front of the net was unmatched – one of the best goal keepers in our days.

But along with the good players, were players like me – Limit 15 minutes

The most I could seriously play was for 15 minutes, and then I had to look for someone to substitute me. Majority of the players were like me.

There was this daju whose name I won’t take, let’s call him Mr S… he was legendary in that he was a Captian of his team in all the tournaments – year in and year out Mr. S would show up with his immaculately dressed team. Funny thing was that he would be on the ground till the formality of the handshakes were done with, as soon as the toss was over and the pictures clicked, he would be out in the sideline.. cheering his team… imagine a Captain sitting out as substitute even before the game had begun.

Yes! He was the one paying the join fees, so undoubtedly he would be the Captain, but as far as playing was concerned, that was not his job.

Funny things like that you know, how you miss when you are grown up.

The team from our village Garidhura, were hopeless in Football, we were good in Cricket but in football we were hopeless. When we played, the score line would read 2-7, with us scoring 2 or 1-8 with us scoring 1. But it never mattered. After playing the game, when we got home, everyone in the village would ask what was the score and if we said say 1-9 they would be very supportive and say… “1 ta diyecha nee… syaabas”… and if we said “2-6” then they would be like… “Amamama dui halyeko? Ramro khelyecha ta hai es palee ta.”

Where else can you find such beauty, simplicity and supportiveness?

Of late our team has improved though, younger players are starting to perform better, and there is a hope that may be, just may be Garidhura may win a football tournament someday soon.

Since I was away from home astee, my younger brother sent me a message, it simply read “Daa 4-5” I couldn’t believe my ears Garidhura scoring 4 in a tournament? Is unheard of… Man the kids have improved these days… so I asked them against whom? and he goes, “Water Supply.”

Now that is the Unmatched Charm and Beauty of ‘Inter-Jorebungla’

Current Garidhura team: Sailu, Dimple, Sandup, Yogen, Suman, Wangdi, Rahul, unknow-Goal Keeper and Ashok

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