Derby County Women winger Kira Rai joined an all-female panel on the Football Association’s Football & Me show to celebrate International Women's Day and discuss the topic of faith and football.
Taking place at St. George's Park, the show was hosted by sports presenter Mina Ibrahim and broadcaster Virdi Mazaria, a former contestant on the BBC’s hit show ‘The Apprentice’.
They were joined by five special guests who work across all levels of the game and represent the major faiths of England - Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Jewish; Layla Banaras, Kira Rai, Charlotte Lynch, Chloe Morfey-Greenberg and Shruti Saujani.
And the conversations were based around a variety of topics about their own faith and their involvement and development in football.
Rai is Sikh and admits she's heartened to see how the approach for South Asian girls playing football is changing.
“For me, football started in the garden with my dad and that was my first involvement,” she revealed.
“Once I started school, a couple of the girls joined our local club Burton Albion at around six before I joined Derby at age ten.
“My parents and grandparents have always been so supportive since day one, but I know that hasn't always been the case for a lot of girls in my community back in the day.
“But that's changing now and it's really nice to see parents now showing the same sort of encouragement that I had when I was growing up.”
Long-serving winger Rai surpassed the 100 appearances mark for the Ewes earlier this season and was named as the Women’s Player of the Year Award at the 2024 Asian Football Awards.
