Indian Women’s Football has entered a historic golden era, inspiring the nation and proving its transformative power. The recent qualification for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2026, our Senior, U-20 and U-17 India Women’s Football Teams, shattered the stigma and made a powerful statement. Their glory highlights a crucial next step of accelerating the essential foundation of grassroots football for sustained growth and lasting legacy.
To sustain this momentum, strengthening the grassroots pipeline with structured programmes and competitive exposure is vital to equip rural talent with skills and create a clear pathway forward. While the national initiatives have rapidly expanded grassroots participation, especially among girls, access to regular competitive platforms remained a key challenge. Bridging this gap is essential as it not only provides an invaluable experience but also cultivates local role models who can inspire countless other girls to pursue sports.
Driven by this growing demand, the partnership between Anantapur Sports Academy (ASA), a sports-for-development initiative of Rural Development (RDT), and the La Liga Foundation gave birth to the Inspire Cup in 2022, a U-17 girls’ football tournament.
The partnership with the La Liga Foundation began in 2018 through grassroots programmes aimed at creating equal opportunities for children in rural Andhra Pradesh. Subsequently, the increasing participation of girls at the grassroots led to the creation of a residential football programme at Anantapur Sports Village in 2021, offering a full scholarship covering their coaching, academic education, sports nutrition, and health care, and ultimately, leading to the establishment of the Inspire Cup for creating a high-quality competitive platform for girls in football.
Over the years, the competition grew, and the fifth edition of the Inspire Cup was held from 4 to 10 January 2026, featuring 252 players from 14 teams across nine states and one union territory. Narmada Valley FC (Madhya Pradesh) defended their title after defeating Magan Singh Rajvi FC (Rajasthan) with a score of 2-1 in the final held on 10 January.
Aakancha Narte, captain of Narmada Valley FC, said, “These past six days have been a fantastic experience for all of us. All of the teams here were really good. Magan Singh Rajvi FC were outstanding today in the final, and as captain, I’m really proud of the way our team played to secure a win against such a strong team.”
M. Anusha, an ASA residential athlete who represented India in an international friendly against the Maldives, was felicitated during the closing ceremony for bringing national pride to Anantapur. Anusha began her football journey with ASA’s grassroots initiatives, joined the first residential girls’ football programme and competed in the three editions of the Inspire Cup, and through her relentless hard work, she earned a spot in the India Senior squad in 2025, inspiring many other girls.
Joakim Alexandersson, Chief Coach of India Women’s U20 team, who was a guest of the closing ceremony, shared, “It is a pleasure to watch the Inspire Cup and the quality of play on display. Tournaments like the Inspire Cup improve the quality of football in the country. Platforms like this not only motivate many girls to pursue football but also provide quality exposure. The Inspire Cup team is doing a great job,” talking about the Inspire Cup. Visha Ferrer, RDT Women Empowerment Director, and Sai Krishna Pulluru, RDT Sports for Development Director, were also present in the closing ceremony.
The Inspire Cup is not just a competitive platform; it offers emerging athletes a space to build friendships, develop essential life skills, and grow alongside peers from across the country. In addition to this, Inspire Cup acts as a platform for them to showcase their skills and get scouted by the other prominent clubs in India. Remarkably, over 50 Inspire Cup players and alumni have gone on to join prominent women’s clubs and represent the Indian Women’s League (IWL) Divisions 1 and 2, as well as India’s U-19, U-20, and Senior Women’s teams.
Recognising the expanding reach and impact of the tournament across India, Segmental Infrastructure Development Limited, Haryana, joined as Prize Money Partner. Simply Sport Foundation, Karnataka, joined as the Associate Partner, while Rapid Sport Fitness, Karnataka, came on board as the Physiotherapy Partner.
“In 2022, the Inspire Cup began with just five teams, and we had to invite teams to participate. Today, we receive enquiries about when the tournament will begin, and it is encouraging to see this edition feature 14 teams from across India. RDT has consistently promoted girls’ participation in sport through initiatives such as mixed-gender festivals and sports leagues. We will always continue to support women’s sport,” said Visha Ferrer, Women’s Empowerment Director, RDT, talking about the event.
When the right opportunities reach the right people, gaps are filled, and legacies are built. With more initiatives similar to the Inspire Cup creating a pathway from grassroots to glory, we can ensure the sustained growth of grassroots talents will continue to fuel India’s historic golden era in women’s football.
Text: Kailas Khanna K. R.
As published on https://www.sportanddev.org/
