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The All India Football Federation named Monika Tarkar as their Team Physiotherapist for the upcoming AFC U-14 Girl’s Regional Championship, 2015 which will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Monika, 25, is an experienced physiotherapist who has worked at every level in football. She worked with the U-16 Girl’s National Team for the AFC Qualifiers, 2014 held at Bangladesh. She has previously worked with the likes of Himachal Pradesh team in the Santosh Trophy, Indian Navy Gymnastics team at INS Hamla, VNFC INDIA during their German Camp and Tour and also for the International Tennis Federation (Women & Girl’s).
She first started off as an intern and worked with the local tennis club in Pune. She would take fitness and injury prevention sessions with the U-16 & U-19 players which helped her gain experience. Looking at her dedication and work ethic she landed an assignment with HPE, India for the International Tennis Federation Championship (Women’s Open) held at CCI, Mumbai. This gave her an opportunity to work on all kinds of injuries and also with many foreign players. She then also worked with quite a few local Pune football teams to enhance her knowledge and depth.
While working with the local football teams she realized that people still haven’t accepted woman physiotherapists. They always want them to fail in some way. This kind of unsettled her for a few days but with renewed determination and commitment she came back to Mumbai and kick-started her career.
In Mumbai she started off with MSSA as their physiotherapist for U-12, U-14 & U-16 categories. Mr. Sudhir BT spotted her there. He asked her a few questions and was quiet impressed. He offered her to work with the Himachal Pradesh Football Team. Later she joined ICL (Super Division Team in MDFA) and worked with many other teams in MDFA. Her mother supported her constantly through everything, encouraging her to be unique and to pursue her dreams.
“Working with AIFF has been a privilege. I would like to thank them for giving me this opportunity. It’s a huge honor,” said Monika. “I also want to acknowledge the constant need to bring in something new with every session and to keep improvising on what we have already accomplished. I’m humbled and proud to help the current generation of players towards their ultimate goal. Finally, I would like to thank my mother who supported me in pursuing my dreams and help me reach where I am today.”
Monika recalls the very 1st match which required her expertise, “One of the players got a direct hit to the chest and wasn’t able to breathe. His pulse was low and had abnormal breathing when I started to resuscitate him. From the time of resuscitation to reaching the hospital, I got him to start breathing again and get his heartbeat to normal. At that moment I felt I was born for this.”
“I am proud to see what Monika has accomplished. During her 1st assignment with the U-16 National Team, she showed wonderful knowledge and depth along with experience. It’s a result of her hard work that AIFF has appointed her for the U-14 Girls’ Team,” said Sapna Rani, who is the Manager for the U-16 Girl’s National Team.
“Monika has the quality, commitment and professional experience; the best I have ever come across. She has that eye for detail and also the hunger to learn more. When you accept criticism and come back stronger, it shows what you’re made of. She has the mettle and also the persona to be one of the best physiotherapists in the world,” said Sudhir BT (Coach, KNVB, Holland).
Eva Carneiro has been Monika’s inspiration and she would like to emulate her one day. Monika loves Manchester United Football Club and would one day like to work with their medical staff as it would be a dream come true.
“Beyond the horizon, lies a dream; your vision is your dream and you are the only path to #MakeItHappen,” is the message she wants to pass on to the women of this country.
Monika is looking to get her Masters in Sports Physiotherapy from Germany and get an upgrade on it from the UK. She wants to learn and adapt the recent rehabilitation techniques and technologies. She wants to specifically work on prevention of injuries and faster recovery of players. Her aim is to one day get all the latest technology in India for the betterment of Indian Football.
