India's women are chasing sporting excellence in the face of poor infrastructural facilities

Funding their own training, shielding themselves from harassment, using unclean toilets—women in sport across rural and urban India have much to overcome even before they can step foot on the playing field

In the 1990s, in the Mulshi taluka near Pune city, Jyoti Kandhare had already emerged as a promising talent when she was just a teen. As was typical for most children at the time, it was at school that the athlete had her first taste of sport, from sprinting and kho-kho to discus throw. However, she would soon discover that it was long jump she had an innate talent for. And though there was no one to coach her in the specifics of track-and-field athletics, she knew one thing for certain: she was leaps ahead of her peers.

Come 2024, and age has neither put a dent in Kandhare’s fitness, nor chipped away at her dogged ambition. After a nearly 20-year break from sport owing to the lack of opportunity or direction in her hometown, the mother of two changed gears and developed a passion for powerlifting—under the guidance of a coach for the first time. She also straddles a career in weight-loss techniques and physical training based in Lonavala; it puts food on the table, and fuels her own sporting career as well as that of one of her sons.

Never-ending hurdles and cruel ironies

“I can’t deny that the question hasn’t crossed my mind: Would my journey have looked radically different if I grew up in a city like Pune or Mumbai, where information about competitions and tournaments was more accessible, and where role models could be found?” Kandhare thinks out loud. At 43, she continues to approach local and state authorities as well as CSR initiatives, to put forth her case and seek funds. She may have an enviable 40 medals to her name, but red carpets aren’t readily rolled out even for seasoned athletes like her. “For a decade, I have been able to set my eyes only on tournaments in the state and country where the entry fees charged aren’t exorbitant. Most international ones remain out of bounds,” she rues.

In Kandhare’s story lie resonances of the challenges that female athletes face every day in India, whether it is the lack of access to sanitary pad dispensers, the long shadow cast by even a single loss on their entire careers, or navigating personal safety. Gendered differences in sport can also take an ugly turn, whether it is sized-down trophies, smaller cash prizes, and less time on the winner’s podium. Sometimes, the irony can be particularly cruel: In June 2023, when the men’s football team under the Kerala Blasters franchise was put under sanctions and stared in the face of a ₹ 4 crore fine, they decided to temporarily shut down the women’s team.

These stories give us pause to consider the ways in which these challenges translate into hard, undeniable data. Though the Indian Olympic Association has committed to gender parity in its athlete commission in recent years, India’s showing at the Olympics leaves much to be desired. Despite the percentage of women winning medals (3.1 per cent) exceeding that of wins by men (2 per cent), as of 2022, the total number of male athletes who had a chance to compete is five times as much as their female counterparts.

Through conversations with active sportswomen and those who earned their laurels in the past, The Established finds that it is individual grit, determined coaches, and familial support that help female athletes to beat the odds, many of which result from a sporting infrastructure that is ill-equipped to serve them.

More troublingly, it would seem that the success of a handful of sportswomen does not speak to, or palpably contribute to, the fates of female athletes at large.

Rooted in systemic apathy 

“Travel is integral to sport,” says Aditi Mutatkar, program head of athlete and women initiatives at Simply Sport Foundation. She’s letting us in on the learnings that she and her colleagues gathered while working on a report that assesses four states—Rajasthan, Haryana, Manipur, and Bihar. In Mary Kom’s home state Manipur, which has produced the second-most number of athletes in India, the report found that 48 per cent of women have to travel over 10 kilometres to reach practice facilities.

“Even in the presence of good infrastructure, safe public transport may not be guaranteed,” explains Mutatkar. “For those athletes whose parents are farmers or daily wage workers and cannot accompany them to each selection or competition, the prospect of sending their daughters to faraway locations may not be a secure one. Such athletes may have to consider dropping out. Travel will remain a deterrent unless we ensure every step of the way is safe.”  

Mutatkar knows a thing or two about travelling within and outside the country; not only is she the winner of five national badminton championships, she also won a silver medal at a mixed team event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She credits her parents for encouraging and supporting her as she went from one milestone to the next; she was all of 14 when she represented India for the first time, and would go on to secure the 27th rank worldwide. Solo journeys in buses and trains were par for the course for Mutatkar, and she had to develop a sense of vigilance to ensure her safety.

Are logistical gaps like unchaperoned travel, or the lack of clean toilets and changing rooms, among the reasons why women aren’t taking vital decisions in sport? A report from early 2024 found that of the national federations of 18 different sports representing India at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, only two were headed by female presidents. Women’s absence from critical positions in organisations is not a matter of happenstance or a dearth of talent, but rather a systemic issue. Those who have assumed leadership and delivered results, such as Hockey India CEO Elena Norman and the coach of the women’s hockey team, Janneke Schopman, have found the larger ecosystem to be hostile and unwelcoming, meting out differential treatment to female versus male experts.

Mutatkar speculates that the appointment of more women as coaches, sports scientists, and leaders will lead to a better understanding of female physiology, breast and pelvic health, and finding solutions where needed. “Saikhom Mirabai Chanu spoke about how being on the third day of her period affected her performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics. We have to find a way to help our athletes understand their bodies better,” she says.

A second innings in sport?

India found its first female cricket commentator in Chandra Nayudu, a player herself and the daughter of India’s first Test captain CK Nayudu; Nayudu stunned audiences in the late 1970s, who were not attuned to the sound of a woman emanating from the commentary box. Forty years later, it is still rare for female athletes to enjoy “second” careers in sport. Athletes who spoke to this writer cited a variety of reasons for this—from the thwarting of opportunity, to familial pressure to settle down and switch careers. Cricket commentary itself remains a boy’s club for the most part, with commentators like Lisa Sthalekar and Anjum Chopra forming the female minority.

“It’s like I was born in a stadium,” says Taruka Srivastav, a former Asian Games player who is trained in lawn and soft tennis. “My mother is a gymnastics coach. It was natural for me to get into sport.” The former India number #3 in the under-16 category is now a sports journalist and media consultant, with a stint at Manchester United. “The ability to have a second career depends on how aware one is, and how many opportunities one has access to. My transition to sports media was a result of the research I myself did; I had to forge my own path, which many female athletes may not be able to do,” says Srivastav, “Once an athlete’s career ends, the question of ‘what next?’ is always looming. Many take up government jobs because of their circumstances.”

Grappling with power dynamics

The sustained protests in 2023 by India’s foremost wrestlers, from Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik to Bajrang Punia and Sangeeta Phogat, blew the lid off the alleged assault Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh committed against several female athletes. While framing charges against Singh in May 2024, a Delhi court took notice of worrying details: the violence was allegedly premeditated in nature, created an environment of fear in the Federation, and the accused used the survivors’ career prospects as an intimidation tactic.

The power dynamic that defines the relationship between players and coaches, or players and sporting authorities, makes them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Abusers in these positions easily earn the favour of the powers that be, creating an atmosphere of impunity. Consider the case involving a cricket coach in Kerala who trained young girls. Despite facing charges of sexually assaulting a minor in 2022, the coach wriggled his way back into the system, as part of the Kerala Cricket Association’s TCM Pink T20 Challengers in 2024. Even as we watch known sportswomen pay the price for speaking up, it is tough to quantify the monetary and emotional cost of sexual abuse on women athletes, whose careers are cut short.

Sexual harassment cases are rampant in our ecosystem. It is very important to make workplaces and training centres safe for women... Denying opportunities based on gender is something that should be looked into,” says Anjali Satish, a cricket and badminton player who is the co-owner of the Bengaluru-based academy Shuttler’s Alley.

The Established found that only recently have organisations like the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and All India Football Federation (AIFF) adopted Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) policies of their own.

For entrepreneurs in the sector like Satish, who want to imagine a different future for female athletes, paying heed to women’s safety is paramount. “Before I set up the academy, many women expressed to me that they appreciated the presence of female coaches. They feel more comfortable being around and approaching female experts—which has guided the decisions we made,” she says.

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