Recently Andy and I met with the inspirational Anjali Shah of the Indian Women’s Football Alliance (IWFA) – it was an eye-opening meeting and we both came away from it looking to see how we could do more to support her amazing energy in growing this tremendous initiative for Indian girls and women through the power of grass roots football.
Having previously set-up the Premier Indian Football Academy (PIFA) with her husband, an academy inspired by the Bobby Charlton Academy, for aspiring young footballers, Anjali saw the power of bringing football to India’s youth and how it can be life changing. Witnessing first-hand the huge issues that girls and young women face in India, such as being forced to leave school as they hit puberty, prevalent sexual abuse, physical violence and early forced marriages, Anjali has now set up the IWFA to help to start to inspire and empower young women away from these terrible prospects.
Mission 10 Million
Anjali is now embarking on the IWFA’s ‘Mission 10 Million’ – to get 10 Million supporters for the IWFA initiative and build the whole ecosystem in which football will thrive in India, as well as getting a million girls playing football all over the country. This would fulfill the vision of the IWFA in ‘Fostering a generation of confident and capable women in India, who can contribute productively in all sectors of Indian society, commerce and government through the impetus of football.’
Football is the fastest growing sport in India with record numbers of viewers for the recent world cup in Australia. Through the IWFA, Anjali is looking to bring life changing opportunities to women in India, enhancing their learning and leadership opportunities alongside the benefits of sport to the masses of women in India.
What we are doing to support
We are looking to do all we can to support the fantastic work that Anjali is doing. We are engaging our finance, sports and marketing networks to see how we can get further support for the IWFA and the current investment that is being sought.
On top of this we will be working with the IWFA on a pro-bono basis to see how we can up the excitement and engagement for the campaigns and events that are being put together.
Please do reach out to ourselves or directly to Anjali for more information and see how you can get involved or help out.