KATARIYA Vandana

General
OCCUPATION
She is employed by Indian Railways under a sports quota programme that allows her to train and compete internationally. (Facebook profile, 20 Sep 2020; scroll.in, 11 Feb 2018)

MENTOR ROLE
She believes she has evolved as a player as she has grown older, and enjoys carrying out the role of mentor to the younger players in the India national team. "When I started off at the age of 15, I was always very fearless. I would try to use my skills, retain possession for as long as possible and then aim for goal. But with time, I realised that you can't play like that, especially when the sport has evolved so much. I also had to evolve. Now with experience, and with the influx of so many young players in the team, I really enjoy the mentoring bit. I know I have the experience which can be helpful to the younger players, and I keep talking to them about different situations that they will face on the field, and what they can do. It is not as if I want them to follow exactly what I say, but I try to make them use their vision and think for themselves about what decisions they can make." (olympicchannel.com, 12 May 2020; sportstar.thehindu.com, 07 May 2020)