“Not just a normal girl, but someone extraordinary”: from player to referee for India’s Isha
The opportunity for second chances underpins everything that the Homeless World Cup is about. But how about the chance of a second opportunity? That question can be answered by one of the new referees in Oslo this year, Isha Silare.
A player at last years’ event in Seoul for Team India, she’s returned in the centre circle – though she wet her whistle- so to speak- after stepping in to officiate a match in the Korean capital, thus becoming the first attendee to play and referee at the same event.
To get behind the story however, means going back to a shy, introverted little girl, growing up in Koradi in central India in a traditional family unit.
“I was a bright student but the town where I live is a society where people don’t want girls to progress in any way,” she explains. “My parents wanted me to follow a ‘household’ career, not to talk to boys, just do what they say. My brother, who is two years older, had opportunities to study for higher English at college while I studied lower English in the government school.
“Discrimination started from home but my parents didn’t do it deliberately because they had been brought up this way. I had no opportunity, no friends, no network, I didn’t know what the world was - I didn’t even know what football really was until I was fourteen.”
Her traditional family upbringing even extended into issues which challenge all women. “There were so many myths about menstruation which meant during these times I was not allowed to go out of the house, I had to stay at home for five days,” she says. “In the one corner of my room they put blankets with cloths for me; if they had to give me food they would push the plates towards me. I wasn’t allowed to wash, I wasn’t allowed to go to the temple or talk to anyone. Even sanitary products were not allowed.”
Everything changed, however, with a visit to her school from Slum Soccer – the pioneering organisation dedicated to empowering underprivileged children in India – who engaged the pupils in football sessions. “This was in 2016, when I was 14, but at first I wasn’t interested - I wasn’t playing any sport, just focusing on my education and my duties at home. But then I learnt Slum Soccer was not just about the football - I saw that players were having fun, learning maths and English, and learning lots of life skills at the same time, so I was inspired to take up football.
“Slum Soccer taught me lots of things,” Isha adds. “They gave me confidence and taught me to stand out from the crowd so I was able to raise my voice. When they were teaching me about football they were also educating me about life - including everything about menstruation, and this showed me that what I was having to do before was not right.”
Isha’s parents had reluctantly allowed her to join the soccer sessions after school though were unhappy about girls being out of the house after 6pm. “Once I became part of a team, and then won my first medal, though they were proud of me they still couldn’t understand why I was going to play with the boys! Neighbours were not supportive and said things like, ‘oh you are a girl, if you play football you will look like a boy, you’ll walk like a boy - a girl should be fragile, not muscular at all’.”
This sort of attitude, she admits, was what kept her going because, “I wanted to prove that girls don’t need to be at home; they have the power, they have something in them that the world needs. I wanted to be the example in my community and I feel I am because I started with nothing and now I’m playing and refereeing football at an international event in another country.”
The path through local and national matches, to Seoul and then Oslo, has not been straightforward, however. Surgery on her ACL in 2021 prevented her playing for eighteen months. Then, in 2023 she played her first tournament and won the best midfielder award. That year saw her suffering with a mental health issue - bipolar disorder - and, “There were so many issues with my parents,” she recalls. “On the outside they were supportive but they were talking behind my back, saying ‘the girl has gone mad, please take her to the hospital.’ But I managed to keep going and, in South Korea, I got the opportunity to shine again.”
Back in 2023, Isha was a participant in an officiating course run by HWC referee Adil Leite who decided she showed great promise and led to her selection to join the Homeless World Cup Referee Training Programme in India that year.
“I wanted to be a referee because you have the power and you can control the game,” she laughs, “and, secondly, I like doing different things. I like to learn and never want to lose the opportunity to do something new.”
Three months ago, the call came to travel to Oslo to referee. “It was midnight my time so I was, like, unable to believe it. But God has a plan for everyone!
“When I arrived in Oslo, got the referee badge and all the kit, I couldn’t wait to put it on and take a photo, to send to my family and say please share in my happiness. It was an unimaginable moment, and I still ask myself if I’m dreaming. I always wanted to shine, not like a normal girl, but someone extraordinary!”
Putting up her hand to referee the first match on the first day on pitch two, Isha has gone on to officiate at a number of challenging fixtures. It’ll come as no surprise, however, that she has a few challenges left to fulfil off the pitch as well as on.
“I’m studying for a Master’s degree in Statistics and also working part time as a football coach with Slum Soccer, teaching young underprivileged children, like I was. There are around 100 participants from around my area - some are addicted, some are from very poor families and it’s a mix of girls and boys. I’m giving back to the community and want them to have that opportunity.”
So a career in Statistics is obviously also on the cards? Not quite! “I always wanted to join the army and I’m still trying - my first choice is to serve my country.”
Don’t worry, Isha, you’re already serving your country well - whistle in hand, shining in a yellow shirt emblazoned with a badge that now reads Homeless World Cup Referee.
Words by Isobel Irvine | Photos by Anita Milas