India Khelo Football and Tyger Capital take Naari Shakti Trials to 40 cities for young female footballers

Phani Bhushan, Founder, India Khelo Football, and Gaurav Gupta, Founder, Managing Director and CEO, Tyger Capital, said the women led scouting programme will create safer access, visibility and football pathways for girls across India.

National, June 9, 2026: India Khelo Football, with support from Tyger Capital, has announced the expansion of its Naari Shakti Trials programme to more than 40 locations across India.
The initiative is positioned as India’s first all girls, women led football scouting programme and aims to address the lack of accessible and structured pathways for young girls entering football.
The expansion follows research by India Khelo Football, which found that 62.7 percent of girls aspired to pursue football seriously. The study also highlighted barriers such as limited opportunities, safety concerns, financial constraints and low awareness of professional pathways.

According to the research, 98.3 percent of girls felt comfortable participating only in an all female environment, while 95.8 percent of participants and parents reported greater confidence when trials were conducted entirely by women.
Naari Shakti Trials are conducted by women across roles including scouts, coordinators, referees, physiotherapists and operations staff. The format is designed to create a professional environment where girls are assessed on football merit.
The first phase of the programme was conducted across Ranipet, Mathura, Pune, Jaipur, Gorakhpur and Siwan. It attracted 346 participants, with 42 players moving into further pathways and 13 female scouts trained. Jaipur recorded the highest participation, with 121 girls taking part.

“We didn’t build Naari Shakti Trials because girls were asking for a safe space. We built it because our research showed that without one, 98% of them were never going to step onto a trial ground at all. Every girl we scout, every female scout we train, every parent who brings their daughter back for the next round, that is the system correcting itself. Tyger Capital understood that this is infrastructure, not charity. That is why this partnership works,” said Phani Bhushan, Founder, India Khelo Football.
“What stood out to us was the gap between aspiration and access. The research showed that many girls wanted to pursue football seriously, yet lacked a structured pathway to do so. When participation rises simply by creating a safe, women-led environment, it becomes clear that talent has never been the constraint; access has. At Tyger Capital, our role has always been to enable growth by expanding access to opportunities. The same principle applies here. Naari Shakti Trials is creating visibility, confidence and pathways for young girls who may otherwise never enter the system. The response across six cities has been encouraging, and we are proud to support its expansion to more than 40 locations across India,” said Gaurav Gupta, Founder, Managing Director and CEO, Tyger Capital.

India Khelo Football is a Section 8 non profit grassroots scouting ecosystem that reaches more than 100 cities and villages annually, assesses over 15000 players and connects talent with more than 20 ISL and I League clubs and academies.
Tyger Capital is a non banking financial company operating across semi urban and rural India. Founded in 2017, it has more than 235 branches across eight states, a loan book of over Rs. 8700 crore and has supported more than 200000 micro entrepreneurs and homeowners.

At Prittle Prattle News, featuring you virtuously, we celebrate the commitment and innovation. Led by Editor-in-Chief Smruti Bhalerao, our platform is dedicated to sharing impactful stories that inspire change and create awareness. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube for more stories that matter.