Loughborough MSc student Aditi Chauhan sign for East London side West Ham United Ladies

Loughborough MSc student Aditi Chauhan has this week added to India’s sporting history by signing for East London side West Ham United Ladies. The significance of this sees the Indian goalkeeper, coming from a country that doesn’t have a domestic league of its own, become only the second female from her country playing women’s football in England.

Leicestershire, 21-8-2015 — /EuropaWire/ — Social media has exploded over the past couple of days as the club posted the news, which was greeted with plenty of positive reactions from Indian fans. The excitement also caused the club to put the goalkeeper’s shirt on their online club store.

Chauhan is coming to the end of her studies for an MSc in Sports Management at Loughborough. Having played for the Women’s Football Club over the last year, she now turns her focus onto playing in the FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division.

The down to earth goalkeeper commented:

“I never really expected this kind of response, so slowly I’m taking it all in and how big it all is back in India. I didn’t realise it when I signed my contract, but I think there’s a lot of responsibility riding on me now.”

When asked about her time at Loughborough, the Indian number one added:

“Loughborough is the best sports university; I’ve had an absolutely amazing time here! There are loads of opportunities for students to get involved within various sports and there are so many great facilities available for student athletes to take advantage of.”

Chauhan had been initially training with the Women’s Super League 2 side, Millwall Lionesses, however was ineligible to play for the team due to league rules regarding student visas.

Meanwhile West Ham’s men’s team are due to move into the Olympic Stadium for the 2016/17 season, the same site as Loughborough University London, which Chauhan is a peer mentor for. Maybe one day we will have to opportunity to see the women’s side, featuring Aditi Chauhan, play there?

Notes for editors

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, putting it among the best universities in the world, and was named University of the Year in the What Uni Student Choice Awards 2015. Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. It was 2^nd in the 2015 THE Student Experience Survey and was named Sports University of the Year 2013-14 by The Times and Sunday Times. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen’s Anniversary Prizes.

In 2015 the University will open an additional academic campus in London’s new innovation quarter. Loughborough University London, based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, will offer postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities.

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Loughborough MSc student Aditi Chauhan sign for East London side West Ham United Ladies