Indian women’s national team head coach Maymol Rocky is part of the inaugural Fifa Coach Mentorship Programme that began on 29 October 2018 at the global football organisation’s headquarters in Zurich.

With all participants paired as a coach-mentor duo, Rocky was paired with Norwegian Even Pellerud. Her mentor Pellerud served as the national women’s team head coach for Norway from 1989 to 1996 before taking up similar positions at Canada (1999-2008) and Trinidad and Tobago (2008-2012). He took up the Norwegian post for a second time from 2012 to 2015.

Rocky, who was a former senior national team player, became the first female head coach of the women’s team since its inception in 1975. She also served as the head coach of the Indian Under-15 women’s team for a limited period of time.

The new project is designed to support female coaches by enabling them to acquire new knowledge, skills and experience that they can harness in their careers.

Female coaches from all over the world have gathered in Zurich for the two-day workshop, where they will be paired with some of the biggest names in football coaching, allowing them to benefit from invaluable first-hand advice, gain new ideas and share best practice.

Communication between the female coaches and their mentors will continue after the workshop, with the programme concluding in November 2019.