From Classroom to Football Field: Ghaziabad’s Ten Rising Stars Head to Meerut
GHAZIABAD — Football selections rarely make headlines outside sporting circles, but for ten teenage girls from Ghaziabad, last week’s trials marked the start of something bigger. Their performances at the Delhi Public School Ghaziabad (DPSG) grounds on Meerut Road were strong enough to earn them a place in the district’s team for the upcoming divisional-level competition.
Organisers had opened the trials to junior girls from across the district, drawing a large and competitive turnout. Coaches assessed each hopeful on technical fundamentals, game awareness and composure under pressure — narrowing the pool down to a final ten.
The Ten Who Made the Cut
Ghaziabad will be represented by:
– Alishba Khan
– Siddhi Singh
– Divyanshi Prajapati
– Ritu
– Sunita
– Sandhya
– Sonia
– Sana Arora
– Richi Singh
– Aakanksha
Where They’re Headed Next
District Sports Officer Ram Milan announced the results and outlined the logistics for the next round. The selected players will report to Topkhana Ground in Meerut for the divisional trials, arriving by 10:30 AM with full sports kits and the necessary age-verification paperwork in order.
Exam Season Hasn’t Slowed Them Down
What makes this batch of selections notable isn’t just the football on display — it’s the timing. Many of the shortlisted players are currently deep in board exam preparation, a period most students treat as sacred and undisturbed. Yet these athletes found a way to train, compete, and qualify anyway.
Class 10 student Sana Arora, one of the ten selected, offered her own take on managing both worlds. “Football is my passion, and passion never negatively affects education,” she said. “If anything, playing sport clears your head and helps you study with better focus afterward. As long as you stay on top of your schoolwork through the year, stepping away for a few days of sport won’t hurt you. Whatever you’re doing — studying or playing — commit to it fully while you’re doing it.”
She also credited her parents for backing her football ambitions from the start, adding that maintaining her grades is her way of honouring that support.
A Fair and Watchful Selection
Overseeing the entire process was a team of coaches and officials — Amit Rawat, Abhijeet Tiwari and Hemant Pawar — whose presence throughout the trials ensured the evaluations stayed transparent and consistent for every participant.
With the divisional trials now just ahead, this Ghaziabad squad carries more than football ambition into Meerut. For players like Sana Arora, it’s proof that academic pressure and athletic pursuit don’t have to cancel each other out — they can, in fact, push each other forward.
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Reporting from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh — The NCR Times.*
