CHANDIGARH: Sanju Yadav, daughter of a farm labourer from Alakhpura village of Bhiwani district, is definitely going places. Sanju is part of national women football team which would compete with Afghanistan at the South Asian Federation Games at Siliguri in Western Bengal on Tuesday.Eldest among three siblings, Sanju started playing football at the age of 10, when she realized that the game could help her get scholarships and prize money and that she could help her parents run the family. Sanju, 19, has also been part of U-14, 17 and Under-19 national football teams prior to her selection in the national team as centre forward.Sonika Bijarnia, football coach posted at the village, said the ministry of railway has already offered Sanju a job and she was expected to join after these games. Sanju’s selection would also inspire villagers to let their daughters play the game, she added.Sanju’s father Balraj Singh claimed that she was more than a son for the family. “She assisted me in the fields during crop harvesting season as farm labourer. I’m really proud that she has also secured her future with the game,” he claimed. The family has only one acre land and work as farm labourer in fields of others to run the house.Her mother Nirmla Devi recalled the time when Sanju took to football and they lived in a house made of mud bricks. “We could hardly managed two meals in a day,” she said.“For the last four-five years, she got around Rs 2 lakh scholarship per year and with that (money) we constructed a two-bedroom house and even have good food at home,” she added.Gordhan Dass, a physical instructor at village school, remembers “the amazing girl who was always focused on the game”. “Even while working as farm labourer, she chose to toil hard along with her father to increase her stamina. That helped her in the game,” he Gordhan.Recently, girl football players from Alakhpura had participated in women’s football league in India -- first-of-its-kind in the country -- introduced by All India Football Federation TOI had recently reported how these girls depend on contributions from villagers for sports kit and shoes. Some girls, who are given shoes for participation in any national or international events, prefer to practice barefoot to keep them safe for the tournament. Most are from very poor families and cannot bear the diet expenses required for players. For physical endurance, they carry water pitchers from hand pump to their home or uses bricks as dumbbells. The government has only provided a woman coach with some bare minimum facilities for their training.