Spotlight: Meet Neha

Neha is 19 years old and has been a part of GOAL for the past two years. She is currently undertaking an open university degree as well as training to become a netball coach.

Neha was in her final year at Deepalaya school when GOAL was piloted in 2006. When she heard of GOAL, she immediately wanted to join the program. She was fascinated by the idea of learning a sport simultaneously learning about various topics of well-being. She also wanted to continue her association with her school even after completing her studies.

Initially Neha was quite an introvert and would not mix with the rest of the participants. However, as time progressed and she got more involved with the program, the underlying leadership qualities in her started showing. She started taking initiative on the netball court and attended all the sessions. She would constantly ask questions and was completely involved in the program.

Recognizing her innate potential, Neha was given exposure to a senior national tournament camp where she participated as a volunteer: learning netball skills and interacting with senior players. She made lot of new friends, took initiative to help her fellow players and became extremely popular among the players who came from various parts of the country. As she returned from the camp, Neha recognised a new zeal and began to facilitate netball sessions with her GOAL group at Deepalaya.

In 2008, Neha was selected to become a ‘GOAL Champion’ and took part in a ‘Train the Trainer’ workshop. She was also selected to play netball in the Junior National Tournament as a part of the Delhi team. Her team came second in the tournament and boosted Neha’s confidence immensely.

Neha says:

“I really feel very happy and proud, when people address me as ‘Neha from the GOAL program of Naz Foundation’. It really adds to my sense of identity. I got the opportunity to learn netball and today, I want to pursue my career in physical education, and I attribute this clarity of the choice of career to my exposure through GOAL.”

Neha now regularly conducts netball sessions as well as helps to train the year II participants on GOAL. She also helps facilitate the netball game session for the Standard Chartered Bank volunteers every Friday.

Today she aspires to pursue a course in Physical Education and become a professional coach.