Know your Arjuna awardee: Bembem Devi’s 21 years of footballing service finally pays off

Every year, at least 15 athletes win the Arjuna Award but only a handful are household names. The Field is kicking off a new series – Know your Arjuna Awardee – where we will profile some of the lesser known athletes who have won India’s second most prestigious sporting honour.

Two decades in the game, playing it at the highest level, captaining the national team for 10 years or more, Bembem Devi’s contribution to the women’s game in India is unparalleled in modern times.

Calling time on a 21-year-long career in Indian colours, recognition from the authorities has certainly been tough to come by. The Arjuna Award has finally arrived after three previous applications and for Bembem and her coach, it was certainly an emotional moment and one to cherish.

When it was finally known that the 37-year-old’s nomination had been accepted, there were “tears of joy” from Bembem’s immediate family and her first coach, Ekendra Singh and his wife.

Bembem and her peers and colleagues spoke to The Field on a joyous day for Indian football.

‘A special player’

“I feel proud, that as an Indian, I was able to support Indian football. Right from my childhood, I have heard about the Arjuna Award. No sportsperson ever plays for any recognition but at times, it can be so satisfying. This is the culmination of my efforts, of all my hard work and most of the credit goes to my family.”

The Manipuri midfielder’s journey commenced in 1991, when she was selected to represent the Under-13 team of the state’s as a sub-junior tournament. Ekendra chuckles thinking of the day he met Bembem, “I thought she looked a boy at first glance. She was a very special player, with the right attitude.” adding that Bembem’s greatest strength was her “reading of the game” and her “intelligence”.

At the Sun Club in Imphal, under the guidance of Ekendra, Bembem played alongside national team members at the time, Kunjarani Devi and Ramoni Devi. She was soon playing for Manipur and for the senior national team at the age of 15, debuting against Guam.

The 1997 AFC Cup in China where India finished fifth remains the pinnacle of Bembem’s international career. “We lost our last match to a strong Japan team by a single goal and exited on goal difference, a whisker away from the semi-final,” rues Bembem as she recollects the tournament, the most ‘memorable’ one of her career.

She became captain of the team in 2003 and the right-back that played in that team would go on to become India’s first female coach of the women’s team. Maymol Rocky was pleased at Bembem’s achievement, “This award, being won by a woman footballer after almost three decades is great news. Football is a sport in which we don’t medals at the Asiad or at the Worlds, but she deserves this for the number of years that she has put into the sport.”

Retirement and return

Currently holding an AIFF-D License, Bembem is in charge of a Manipur League 2nd division team from Imphal West, but her playing career is not yet over.

“They gave me a farewell last year after we (Eastern Sporting Union) won the Indian Women’s League, so I don’t want to go back. But the Manipur Police have asked for help with pre-qualifying for IWL2, so I’m helping them,” she laughs.

Her career ended in a somewhat similar fashion as she hung up her boots at the end of 2015 only to be coaxed back by officials into taking part in the 2016 South Asian Games, in which India won gold by beating Nepal 4-0 in the final.

Eighty-five appearances and 32 goals later, Bembem had come to the end of a long journey that has inspired many. Bala Devi, current Indian women’s team captain and teammate at ESU last season, says Didi has inspired many a footballer from the state to take up football more professionally, “Not only is it good news for the team, but also for the women of Manipur. I don’t expect it to change a lot, but young girls will see this and get motivated and think to themselves that they could also win this award.”

Academy dreams

Indu Choudhary, who manages the women’s football team, says that this is a huge moment not just for Bembem, but the system, “For us, even the support staff and the team managers, we are elated. This is a reward for all our endeavours.”

Also referred to as the “Durga of Indian Football”, Bembem doesn’t seem to recollect the origin of the name. Speaking on a lighter note, she says, “I don’t know when the name caught on, but they just kept calling me Durga to tease me.

For someone who almost quit the sport due to parental pressure on academics, Bembem is quite happy today that she managed to juggle both sport and study, “My father wanted me to study well to get a government job, but my mother and my sisters, they convinced me to keep playing.”

Next on the cards for Bembem is a vision to open an academy in Imphal. She hopes that with the assistance from the government that she has requested, she will one day, train more Bembems to take up the sport.

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