“We want more and more girls to play”: Capri Sports Targets the Future of Girls’ Football

Capri Sports has launched Nova Sports, a girls-only football development initiative aimed at creating a structured pathway for girls in India to progress from grassroots participation to elite football.

The initiative, built around the philosophy of “Girls first. Always.”, will initially focus on girls aged 8 to 18 and combine coaching, competition and long-term player development. The first step will be the Super Nova Football Championship, a seven-a-side schools’ tournament across the U13, U15 and U17 age groups, scheduled for September 5 and 6 in Bengaluru.

Speaking exclusively to RevSportz, Apurv Gupta, Director, Contact Sports, Capri Sports, explained that Nova Sports is designed as more than a grassroots programme.

“Nova Sports was launched with a view that we wanted to build a pathway that allows every girl to pursue football, at any level,” Gupta said. “Nova Sports is girls first, always, which essentially means that every decision that we take with everything that we plan is built keeping in mind what our athletes need.”

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The pathway will operate across two interconnected tracks: development and participation. The development side will begin with grassroots schools and academies before moving towards performance centres and eventually elite residential academies. The participation track will provide regular competitive opportunities so players can put their training into practice.

Gupta believes the focus on women’s football comes at an important time for the sport in India. While investment in men’s football has grown considerably, he feels women’s football still has significant room for development.

“If we look at women’s football globally, it’s expanding, it’s rapidly growing,” he said. “And if you double click on India as a nation, women’s football has not had deep, deep sort of investment.”

A key difference, according to Gupta, will be the programme’s attempt to build its methods around the specific needs of female athletes rather than simply adapting existing boys’ programmes.

“We want to contextualise all of that to India because India is a unique, diverse market,” he said. “We just can’t pick up something and put it in India and expect it to work.”

That approach will extend to the coaching curriculum and safeguarding. Gupta pointed to the need for training methods that take female-specific requirements into account, while also creating an environment where young players feel safe and confident.

The Super Nova Football Championship will be the first major test of that approach. Around 50 teams are expected to participate, but Gupta said the tournament will not be judged solely by results.

“The success factor for us was if every girl walks out feeling happy and like a champion,” he said. “When you’re dealing with younger kids at the grassroots level, passion and interest is far more important.”

Beyond the football itself, the tournament will include engagement and experiential activities designed to give players a memorable matchday experience.

The ambition extends well beyond Bengaluru. Capri Sports plans to take Nova Sports to more than 10 markets across India over the next decade, while the wider initiative aims to reach more than 1.5 million girls.

For Gupta, the ultimate measure of success will be seeing more girls enter the sport, progress through the system and eventually represent India.

“We want more and more girls to play. We want more and more talent to come through and we want those girls to go on and shine for India,” he said.

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