Astam Oraon

Astam Oraon
Personal information
Date of birth (2005-02-05) 5 February 2005 (age 19)
Place of birth Gorratoli, Gumla, Jharkhand, India
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 East Bengal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Lords FA Kochi
2022–2023 Kickstart
2023–2024 Odisha
2024– East Bengal
International career‡
2022 India U17 3 (0)
2021–2024 India U20 13 (1)
2021– India 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 4 June 2024

Astam Oraon (born 5 February 2005) is an Indian professional footballer from Jharkhand,[1] who plays as a defender for East Bengal in the Indian Women's League and the India women's national football team. She captained the India Under-17 team in the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup hosted by India in October 2022.[2][3] A road was built in her village by the local administration in the name of Astam Oraon to celebrate her nomination as the captain.[4]

Early life

Astam Oraon hails from Banari Goratoli village in Bishunpur block of Gumla district, Jharkhand.[5] She is born in a poor family to Heeralal Oraon and Tara Devi. Both are daily wage labourers. They live in a small house with tiled roof but use a plastic sheet to prevent water seeping in during rains. She has four sisters and a brother.[6] She is studying in Class 12 at St. Columbus Collegiate School, Hazaribagh and trains at the attached Football Training Centre. In October, after she was selected as the captain of the Indian team, she was named as the district's brand ambassador for a government scheme that supports girl child's education, named Savitribai Phule Kishori Samriddhi Yojana (SPKSY). The district administration also gifted a TV for her parents to watch the matches.[7]

Career

Her father, a footballer who had to stop due to an injury, introduced the game to her daughter and in 2016 admitted her in the Girls Football Training Centre at Hazaribagh. Her first coach was Sony.[8] She was called for the Junior India camp in 2019. She captained the Indian youth team at the U-17 World Cup in 2022.

Career statistics

International

As of 4 June 2024
International caps and goals
Year Caps Goals
2021 1 0
2022 0 0
2023 3 0
2024 3 0
Total 7 0

Honours

Odisha

Kickstart

Lords FA

References

  1. ^ "Astam Oraon". www.the-aiff.com. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Jharkhand girl to lead Indian team in FIFA U-17". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  3. ^ Bhattacharjee, Neeladri (9 October 2022). "Jharkhand shows the way for women's football at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup". sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  4. ^ "FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup: India captain who got a road built in her village". Firstpost. 9 October 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  5. ^ Mohapatra, Rajendra Prasad. "Braving all odds: Astam Oraon's journey from a daily labourer's daughter to national team's captain". Braving all odds: Astam Oraon’s journey from a daily labourer’s daughter to national team’s captain. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  6. ^ "U-17 Women's World Cup: Girl from Red zone dribbles past poverty to be India captain". The Times of India. 11 October 2022. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  7. ^ Lahiri, Dipankar (11 October 2022). "FIFA U17 World Cup: Indian captain Astam Oraon's house gets TV, inverter". thebridge.in. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  8. ^ "Astam Oraon: Indian Superwoman who fulfilled her father's dream of performing in football". TimesNow. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  9. ^ "Odisha FC take home the IWL trophy with stunning ease". i-league.org. I-League. 24 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Gokulam Kerala steamroll Kickstart to complete hat-trick of Hero IWL titles". the-aiff.com. All India Football Federation. 21 May 2023. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Indian Women's League 2023: Gokulam Kerala thrash Kickstart FC 5–0 to win third consecutive title". sportstar.thehindu.com. Chennai: Sportstar. 21 May 2023. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2023.