Sunita Lugun, former national level hockey player, forced to work due to circumstances, returns to the sport

Sunita Lugun, a 19-year-old tribal girl from Odisha and former under-17 national hockey player who was forced to become a migrant worker due to lack of opportunities and her poor financial situation, has now made a return to sport thanks to Dilip Tirkey Foundation, an initiative of the president and former player of Hockey India Dilip Tirkey and his trainer Bimal Jojo. Lugun was a former under 17 hockey player for India and belongs to Ladlada village in Rairakhol block of Sambalpur district of Odisha. She had played championships at the district, state and national levels.

But she was forced to go to Tamil Nadu and work in a cloth factory as a laborer after her father died. “There were a lot of difficulties. I worked there for six months. I could only earn 280 rupees a day,” Sunita told ANI.

After Bimal, her coach got to know about her condition, he called her back to Odisha and she competed in a state championship held at KIIT stadium last week. She was the captain of her team. Bimal said: “When I heard that she went to Tamil Nadu for work, I felt bad because she played nationally for Ranchi in 2018. Her father’s death forced her to go to Tamil Nadu. I contacted her and she played in the state championship as a captain.”

The Dilip Tirkey Foundation, an initiative of Hockey India chief and former Indian player Dilip Tirkey, learned of her existence and she was given Rs 21,000 and a bag of hockey kit. “Sunita Lugun in 2018 played National Championships for Odisha. But due to financial issues she was unable to play. But her coach informed that she can still play. in sports and hockey,” Tirkey said.

Gourav Ralhon, associated with the Dilip Tirky Foundation, also said: “We had seen her in a match at KIIT recently. She is from Sambalpur. senior team. She scored a goal and played well. We learned that she was a former U17 national player. But had to work as a laborer in Tamil Nadu due to her poor financial situation. The Foundation Dilip Tirkey picked her up. On their behalf, we gave her money and a bag so she could progress.” (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by the Devdiscourse team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)