Sandeep Tak a Sikh Female Footballer who tells her story of facing certain challenges in the industry but is determined to stand out from the crowd and succeed and she is an inspiration to many out there.
She isn't just playing against the other team. In her eyes, she's playing against prejudice, "A coach said this to me once, 'What matters is the top three players on the pitch'. That's who people are going to remember from the game. I have to be the top one on the pitch. It can't come down to the top three because I won't get noticed like that. It's happened like that many time, I've been top three on the pitch and I will become the third because of who I am.
"Not only is it hard to be a footballer in it's own right, but to be a Sikh female footballer and all the stuff that comes with it, it's just nice to know that you're representing something that's much bigger than you. To be able to showcase that in this element of something is really special."
Luckily, unlike Jasminder in 'Bend it Like Beckham' Sandeep doesn't have to fight against her parents, "I think being in this country has definitely made a difference. To be fair a lot of parents in our community, in our culture, are really modernized now and they understand that life is too short. To grow up with all these problems, and then you tell your kids to do things in a certain way and then years later you're stressed out your kids coming back to you crying... I think they've realized they just want their kids to be happy. Just let them do what they love so they can't turn around and say 'Mom and dad you didn't let me do what I love to do'. This is why I am where I am today. I think it's really important. I think that's what's taking affect on parents' decisions, nowadays, on what their kids are picking and choosing for a career or in life."
