Chelsea Fan Corner: Neha Sahu

Neha Sahu’s journey as a lifelong Chelsea fan and a teacher is an inspiring one, to say the least. She is the co-founder of an NGO called Just for Kicks, where she uses football to educate kids in what has been heralded as an interesting concept of combining academic knowledge with co-curricular activities.

Neha has been a Chelsea fan since 2003, incidentally when Russian-Israeli businessman Roman Abramovich completed his record-breaking takeover of the Blues. She narrated his journey as a Blues fan and took a trip down memory lane to highlight some of her favorite moments.

“2003-04, what a season to become a Chelsea fan! I still remember the moment you became a fan of the club. Chelsea conceded just 15 goals in the entire Premier League season. Frank Lampard and John Tery were already there and in 2004, we had Didier Drogba and Petr Cech coming in.”

She also singled out Frank Lampard for a special place, as the England midfielder was one of the biggest match-winners in world football at the time. Neha also revealed that her formative days as a Chelsea fan set the tone for the rest of her career, as she went on to follow her passion and ended up co-founding Just for Kicks.

“Lampard was peaking at the time; the goals he scored were pure talent, guts and audacity. It has remained a foundation for football in my entire life, because of which I ended up doing what I do as well.”

Neha Sahu's love for football and Chelsea shaped her career

Neha Sahu has been a Chelsea fan for nearly two decades

Just for Kicks was launched in 2011 and has been an unwavering success, with as many as 4400 children set to have enrolled in the program in Chennai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Dharwad. Using football as a medium, children across the continent have learned a lot about all walks of life with Neha spearheading the charge.

Neha’s idea to combine football and education has turned out to be a masterstroke. It has seemingly changed the education system and paved the way for alternative modes of learning.

Speaking about her rewarding journey, she shed light on how a playful idea turned out to be special.

“I remember teaching math by counting numbers on the league table. I showed them where each country is on the map, talking about the game and going home to watch games. Within six months, their confidence developed and the kids started wanting to come to school.”

“That’s when I started Just for Kicks. I had two very clear objectives - I wanted to change the education system by saying that sports should be a part of it, because it naturally helps you develop life skills. Secondly, the lack of girls’ interest and their fear to play pushed me to want to make it a gender-equal space.”

In 2016, Neha was presented with the unique opportunity of taking 10 of her students to London. She made the most of her chance and visited Stamford Bridge, while she also did her best to get her students to start supporting the Blues.

Finally, Neha revealed that it would be great if she could be invited to return to Stamford Bridge as a fan at some point in the future.

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