Nandakishore Patnaik with his students at a camp in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Sept 2: Nandakishore Patnaik’s journey with Orissa’s women football team has been like recreating the Chak De script or the Tom Hanks starrer, A League Of Their Own. Patnaik is credited with raising Orissa’s women football team from nothing in 1997 to winning the senior national cup title this year.

The coach, who is fondly called “Nanda Sir” and “Tutu Sir” by his disciples, single-handedly transformed the game and popularised it among girls. He achieved success with little or no infrastructure support. The real hero of Orissa’s women football was recently awarded by many organisations, including a leading television channel in Mumbai, for his achievements.

Patnaik kicked off his career in football while studying at Guru Training School, Baghda Road, Baripada. But the transformation came during his days MPC College, Baripada. He ventured into professional football after becoming a college-level player.

“It was during my BCom days that I started playing for Independent Club, Baripada, in 1974. Then I got offers to play for the Balasore-based Power Club. The same year offer came from Sunrise Club, Cuttack, and in 1979 Jayadurga Club approached me. In 1979, my credentials as a sportsman fetched me an auditor’s job in the accountant-general’s office. By then I was also playing for Bhubaneswar-based Club-73, which has now become Yazdani-73,’’ recalled Patnaik.

There was no team in women’s football in Orissa. After a trip to Assam in 1993, the then chief minister Biju Patnaik wanted a women’s football team. The team was to tour Assam that year and Sports Authority of India coach Chandan Chanda approached a group of kho-kho players to be coached in football.

“They were initially reluctant. But when they were told that they would get the opportunity to fly to Haflong in Assam to play the senior nationals, they started coming for practice. At Haflong, our girls were defeated by 26, 16 and 10 goals respectively in three matches,” said Patnaik.

The very next year, the girls got to play the Federation Cup at Bhadrak. This time too, their performance was unimpressive. “With two consecutive bad performances, the girls were shattered and they stopped coming to practice,’’ said Patnaik. To get girls interested in the game, women exhibition football matches were started across the state in 1994. Despite this, Orissa failed to play in the senior nationals in 1995 and 1996. “In 1997 we came to know that a tournament was being held at Haldia. The girls took part and was defeated in the quarter-finals,’’ the coach said.

But this was enough to spur them into practice. The soccer craze soon spread all over the state and coaching classes began at Cuttack, Salepur, Kendrapara, Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Mayurbhanj, Puri and Khurda. Since then, the girls have come a long way and 12 girls from Orissa are part of ongoing camp to select the national women’s team. Acknowledging Patnaik’s contribution, ace footballer Shraddhanjali Samantray said: “Sir has shaped women’s football in the state. We owe everything to him.”

Echoing Samantray’s sentiments, Ranjita Mohanty, said: “Patnaik sir is god to me.”

Having successfully shaped the senior women’s football team he has now begun focusing on a younger lot. “I have started state-level camps at Kalinga Stadium and am trying to teach girls from weaker sections. I plan to set up a football academy to realise my dreams,” Patnaik said before signing off.