BHOPAL: At a national camp in the city, Nausheen Naz, 15, trains along with the likely ones who own multiple kits. Naz borrows equipment. Her father Ahfaz Khan, a daily wager earning about Rs 250 a day, cannot buy her a proper hockey stick. No kit. No safety net.However, the girl from Madhya Pradesh’s Seoni is India’s most exciting hockey forward who has been named in the Under-18 Asia Cup squad for Japan since May 29.
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Jay Shah’s 2036 Olympics plan for India: ‘8 medals won’t cut it’Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!Four years ago, her journey began in a cramped rented roofless shack in Seoni, about 380 km southeast of Bhopal. A discarded, broken hockey stick became her tool. “Without complaining, she tied it with cloth, tied it again when it tore and kept playing,” Khan, 48, said.
Nausheen’s only goal: to play for India
The breakthrough came in 2023, when she was noticed by the MP Hockey Academy. Training, diet, equipment – everything followed. “The academy was a lifeline for her, providing equipment and training that I couldn’t,” her father said.Dreams quickly turned into numbers. At the 16th National Women’s Sub-Junior Championship in Bihar’s Rajgir earlier this month, Naz burst through the defense – nine goals, top scorer, player of the final. Khan watched in amazement.“Today I shed tears looking at her,” he said. Once unsure of her persecution due to crushing poverty, he now stands firm against social pressure for her training attire. “If anyone stops my daughter, she will be the first to face.Naz is one of seven siblings. Hunger, space and money remain daily constraints. Yet talent and determination force the door wide open. Her younger sister Sabarika entered the academy after a talent search.India’s hockey story has long drawn strength from small towns and hard ground. From dusty fields to national camps, many of its best have risen from humble homes where the sport competes for survival. Naz fits the bill – raw, relentless, unfiltered by privilege. “I have only one goal: to play for this country,” she said with her eyes on the Asian Cup.
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