- The 26-year-old trained with boys when girls were not allowed to play in her village and gradually built a girls’ team
- Pravin Kumari now works as a physical education teacher to support her family and continue her football career
Diu, January 7: Pravin Kumari has spent most of her life standing her ground—first against social barriers in a remote Himachal Pradesh village, and now between the goalposts on the football field.
A fighter by instinct, the 26-year-old has battled social resistance, limited resources and personal hardship to carve out her place in the game, emerging as one of the prominent faces of Himachal Pradesh’s growing women’s football movement.
At the Khelo India Beach Games 2026 at Ghoghla Beach in Diu, Pravin’s never-say-die attitude, despite taking a heavy knock on her leg, helped the Himachal Pradesh women’s team register a come-from-behind win over hosts Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (DNH&DD) in their debut women’s Beach Soccer match.
The goalkeeper made several crucial saves in the third quarter to prevent the hosts from pulling away, inspiring her teammates to score late goals and secure a 7-5 victory.
Born in Khatgaon village in Himachal Pradesh’s Una district to a daily-wage mason, Pravin is the youngest of three siblings and shoulders the responsibility of supporting her family. She balances her sporting ambitions with her role as a physical education teacher at a private school in Una, ensuring financial stability while continuing to pursue football.
Pravin’s entry into the sport was far from conventional. At a time when girls in her village were discouraged from playing sports, she began training with boys, undeterred by social resistance or the absence of structured coaching.
What started as solitary determination soon turned into collective belief. Gradually, Pravin gathered a few girls around her, forming a small, informal unit that trained without resources or guidance but with strong conviction.
“Life isn’t easy, especially when a girl wants to pursue sports. Ten years back, our village would only encourage boys. I started training with them and then gradually got a few more girls to play. We wanted to set the tone for the next generation,” Pravin told SAI Media.
The Himachal Pradesh team also broke new ground at the Khelo India Beach Games 2026 in its first major exposure to Beach Soccer. While the team trained on a specially prepared sand field for about 10 days, playing on the beach proved challenging due to the faster pace and physical demands.
The team held its own in the first two quarters with the score locked at 4-4 before Pravin suffered a leg injury and conceded a goal. After receiving treatment and returning to the field—thanks to rolling substitutions—she rallied her teammates and denied multiple attacks to keep the team in contention.
“The injury came at a crucial phase, but credit to the girls for bouncing back. This is just the start, and we need to keep the momentum going,” Pravin said.