Come October, the Odisha Football Club (FC) Women will be the only team to represent India at the first edition of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League.

The women’s team will be guided by Crispin Chettri, a youth hailing from the hill town of Kurseong.

“This is a major achievement for national women’s football as the Odisha FC Women team has qualified as the sole only team from India to participate in the first edition of AFC Women’s Champions League,” Chettri, the head coach of the team told The Telegraph on Sunday. He is currently visiting his native place at St Mary’s in Kurseong.

Odisha’s women’s soccer team also became the champion of the Indian Women’s League for 2023-24 under Chettri’s coaching, allowing them to join the inaugural edition of the AFC Women’s Champions League.

A prominent face among footballers in the hills, Chettri was the head coach of Lonestar Kashmir, a second-division club team of the I-League, before he got the offer from Mohammedan Sporting Club in October 2020.

Before joining the Odisha FC Women’s team as the head coach, Chhetri was a regular United Kurseong Football Club player and is currently the Kurseong Football Association’s technical adviser (KFA).

On September 13, Chettri will join his team to start the training session for the group stage matches of the AFC Women’s tournament in Bhubaneswar. Odisha FC’s group stage matches are scheduled for next month and it will play against Urwa Red Diamond, Ho Chi Minh City and Taichung Blue Whale on October 6, October 9 and October 12, respectively.

The first two teams from the group will qualify for the quarterfinal.

“He (Chettri) is an inspiration for every soccer player of the hills. He has proved how dedication can help a person to excel,” said Sudip Rai, the general secretary of the KFA.

Chhetri is an AFC ‘A’ License holder of FIFA, which enables him to be a coach for national-level football clubs. He feels many promising footballers in north Bengal could not excel in club-level and national-level football due to the lack of guidance.

“I have visited Nandajhar, a remote village school of North Dinajpur district. Girls from the school will play in the Subroto Cup. There is a residential soccer academy in Kalimpong for girls running successfully. There is no dearth of talent in the region. I am always ready to provide any assistance to the budding talents from the region,” he said.