At the age of 15, Indian hockey player Rani Rampal made history as the youngest player to participate in the World Cup. Ten years later and Rampal is now the Captain of India’s Women’s Hockey Team, receiving recognition for her outstanding abilities globally as well on her home turf. Having been named as World Games Athlete of the Year in 2019, picked from 25 athletes nominated by international federations, Rampal was then awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in India.

Rampal’s hockey abilities alone are exceptional. However, the story of how she arrived on the pitch today makes for a further impressive achievement. “Growing up, there was no other sport in my village apart from hockey. My parents didn’t allow me to play but I was very stubborn and insisted that they give me at least a chance and if I didn’t do well, then they could refuse to let me play.” By the age of 7, Rampal had joined her first team and with the support of her coach, Sadar Baldev Singh, she started to believe in her own abilities “After I scored a particularly good goal, he told me I was the future of India; that’s when I felt I could achieve something and become a good player”

Rampal’s hockey abilities alone are exceptional. However, the story of how she arrived on the pitch today makes for a further impressive achievement. “Growing up, there was no other sport in my village apart from hockey. My parents didn’t allow me to play but I was very stubborn and insisted that they give me at least a chance and if I didn’t do well, then they could refuse to let me play.” By the age of 7, Rampal had joined her first team and with the support of her coach, Sadar Baldev Singh, she started to believe in her own abilities “After I scored a particularly good goal, he told me I was the future of India; that’s when I felt I could achieve something and become a good player”

As a family, Rampal’s financial condition was very bad and they struggled to afford basic needs such as food and travel, let alone the equipment and kit for Rampal to play. Once again, it was Rampal’s coach Singh who insisted she wouldn’t quit the game “He is a like a God for me, his family and wife took good care of me and my diet so that my body would remain energetic and I could play well. He has taught me so much more in life than just hockey, he taught me how we should help each other out whenever there are financial problems. Whatever I am today is because of him”. Rampal talks openly about the financial care she wishes to encourage within her own society, having been supported at numerous occasions during her own career’s development

Rampal’s journey into sport and the image of hope she presents to others is not to be underestimated, particularly due to the fact that, within Indian, almost half of all women are denied access to further education, let alone opportunities to participate in sport, due to the prevalence of child marriage (of the 223 million child brides in the country, 102 were married before the age of 15). Rampal has spoken out about the encouragement necessary for change to happen and mindsets to be brought up to date. “All girls need is support from their families and motivation to do it”, Rampal explains, "Everyone does the same hard work in sport, be it a boy or a girl. [But people say] when a girl has achieved something, it wasn’t due to hard work, it was solely luck. These things hurt you a lot, mentally and emotionally. So, when a girl overcomes these challenges and comes up in life, we should appreciate that more so that other girls can be inspired by this”. It is through Rampal’s achievements as well as the example she sets for breaking down the stigma associated with females within her own society that makes her the symbol of hope many are needing to see.

Follow Rani Pampal on Twitter here and Instagram @ranirampal4

Words: Bethany Burgoyne