Girls, Boots On: Jammu's U-14 Footballers Get Their Shot at a National Team Spot

Under the July sun at Jammu’s Parade Ground, a group of schoolgirls were doing something that still doesn’t get enough space in the city’s sporting imagination — trying out, on merit, for a place in a team that could carry them to a national stage.

The Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council held open selection trials for the Under-14 Sub-Junior Girls Football Team, with the Jammu Division rounds taking place on July 13 and 14 at the Mini Stadium Synthetic Turf, Parade Ground. On the opening day around 75 aspirants turned out across the UT — roughly 60 from the Kashmir Division and 15 from Jammu — each chasing the same goal.

The pathway is clear and open

What makes these trials worth flagging is how straightforward the route is. There is no invitation-only shortlist and no hidden quota: any eligible girl could simply show up with her kit and be seen. Players shortlisted from both divisions move on to the final selection trials on July 16 and 17 at the Synthetic Turf Football Stadium, TRC, Srinagar, and the squad that emerges will represent J&K at the AIFF Sub-Junior Girls National Football Championship 2026.

To be eligible, a player has to be a girl born between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2014, and a permanent resident of Jammu and Kashmir. Selected players undergo a mandatory Bone Age Verification Test — a standard fairness check at age-group level.

What to bring, and why it matters

The Council asked trialists to carry their original birth certificate, an Aadhaar card with a recent photo, two passport-size photographs and a complete playing kit — jersey, shorts, stockings, shin guards and boots. There is no travel or daily allowance, so families turn up on their own steam, which makes the number who showed anyway all the more telling.

For girls in Jammu who want to keep this path open, the organisers listed contacts for registration and queries: Javed Ahmad Sofi (7006037351) and Ricky Kumar (9149887665).

Women’s and girls’ football in the region has long fought for turf, coaching and simple visibility, so an open, division-wise trial that actively invites Jammu players — rather than treating the city as an afterthought behind the Valley — is a small but real signal of intent. The synthetic turf at Parade Ground, right in the heart of Jammu, becoming a stage for a girls’ national selection is the kind of everyday change that shifts what young players believe is possible.

Grassroots trials like these are how a city quietly builds a sporting culture — not through one star, but through dozens of thirteen-year-olds who now know that a national jersey is something they are allowed to compete for. Jammu’s turf saw exactly that this week.

Sources: Greater Kashmir, Gadyal Kashmir.