When the first Nepal Toastmasters Futsal Tournament was organised during the fall of 2023, there was a unique requirement – each team that wanted to qualify needed at least two female players in their 10-person team and one female player playing on the field at all times. The tournament, which was set up to bolster team spirit and leadership skills among Toastmasters members in Nepal, also proved to be a conversation starter on the need and effects of diversity, equity and inclusion. Nepal is currently home to five divisions of District 41, Toastmasters International, and has more than a thousand members in the community.
Due to the low number of female players, organising a separate tournament was not feasible. The situation was not ideal, but having two female players in the team – an idea first suggested by the then Division A Director Euden Koirala, made its way to becoming a tournament rule to encourage female participation. To make this happen, the women had to step up, and the men had to step back. It was a two way process, one of taking up space and one of giving space.
The first year was a visible challenge. Accommodating female players in the team was not an easy task to accomplish. I remember some team leaders, most of whom were men, lamenting – “Where are the women?” as they tried to find female players who could join their team. Some teams found female players who were not only willing but also had a history of playing football. Some other teams had to take on whoever was willing. Only one team, Laxmi Sunrise FC, had more than two female players.
In fall 2024, the second edition of this tournament was organised. The second year was different. The rule for female players remained unchanged; what changed was the way teams prepared for it. Instead of being just a rule to qualify, teams were prepared to nurture interested female players. And more importantly, they were able to find more female players who loved football as much as anyone else.
The momentum of the first year had caught on. The first year saw 22% of female participation in 10 teams. The number grew to 24.16% in the second year across 12 teams. Four teams – Himalayan Rangers, A2 United, Titans FC, and Laxmi Sunrise FC – had more than two female players on their team.
The statistics and strategies tell a more nuanced story. The first year saw women mostly on defence and in many cases as mere representation to qualify. Sanjeeta Nepal was the only female who scored one goal which made up 0.8% of the total goals scored during the tournament. The second year saw a fresh change in strategies. Women were not just limited to defending but were also attacking, scoring goals, and running around the field. Female players scored 6.5% of the goals.
Animon Rapacha, awarded the Golden Ball for the female player of the tournament, was the sole striker for her team A2 United. She has played football since her childhood, but never in this mix of 4:1 ratio. She was initially concerned about this mix and credits her team for encouraging her to take complete control of her position as the striker and made her feel like she could play “as good as her male counterparts.” Kushal Bhandari, A2’s captain, shared their strategy for initial matches of passing all the balls to their female team mates regardless of the outcome – this was one of the many ways they gave space to their female team mates, also meaning the male team members had to step back to create this opportunity. This corroborates well with Rapacha’s experience – “The team just let me fail even when I could not score a goal.” All of these worked in the team’s favour as A2 United emerged to be the tournament champions.
There is often an unsaid belief that girls and women are not good at sports or not as interested in them as boys and men. But what is often overlooked is how our social structures put girls and women at a disadvantage. UN Women’s data on “Facts and figures: Women in Sports” states that “by the age of 14, girls drop out of sports at twice the rate of boys due to several factors such as social expectations, lack of investment in quality programmes, and more.” As adults, I can imagine that women have even less encouragement and more hurdles to take up sports. A 2020 news article on Today.com by Drew Weisholtz states that “women ages 15-24 spend 54% more time on housework than men the same age and women ages 25-34 spend 51% more time on those chores.” A quick observation in our own homes might, unfortunately, verify these statistics.
Despite these hurdles, there are women who are interested and will seize the opportunity if given space, proving why tournaments like this matter. Pramisha Silwal played with Titans FC in 2024, reaching the finals, and with NMB Warriors in 2023. Even during her busy days in law school, she managed to form a women’s football team and participated in several tournaments. She shared, “Getting to know fellow sports enthusiasts and actually playing alongside them was a surreal experience for me.”
Giving space to women in this tournament, even if through a rule, is simply the first step, but a vital step nonetheless. Rapacha shared with me that her two other female team mates of A2 United were playing futsal for the first time. After the tournament was over, they went on to participate in their college futsal tournament as well. This is one of many positive instances that emerged.
When the women were not enough in numbers to host a separate tournament, the organisers could have gone on with just the male players, but what would we have learnt leaving the women behind – nothing new. Embracing the challenges of strategising and nurturing female players opened up conversations on inclusion and reflection, and the hope is for these moments to travel beyond the field and into our own lives and workspaces.
Sushmita Tamang, a national-level wushu athlete, played with Athassi Unanchas FC and reached the semi-finals. Seeing her keen sense of space and the ball, one could not have imagined this was her first time playing this game. She shared with me that while she enjoyed the entire experience, she did wish to see a separate women’s game. I echo her thoughts and believe that is the aspiration we need to head to. An all-women’s exhibition match might be the next step building on this momentum.
The principle behind inclusion is giving space for diverse ideas, experiences and orientations. Giving space for women in this tournament meant a chance for them to be in spaces they have traditionally been excluded from. This also meant the male players who might have played in the team had to step back to give this space. This extended allyship might have started through a rule, but the greater hope is to give rise to conversations and actions that build empathy and openness to encompass the diverse needs of different genders and groups; sometimes it means stepping up to seize the opportunity, and sometimes it means stepping back to give space.
Alfa is a writer, researcher, and podcaster. She is currently a Writing Fellow at The Open Institute for Social Science. She is the producer and host of How’d You Create That? — an art podcast about the creative process. Alfa has been a Toastmaster since 2018 and is a three time district contest winner of District 41, Toastmasters International.
