Daniella Lot, Rantya’s rising football star

By Onjefu Odaudu

Away from the story of insecurity in Jos the Plateau state capital is the story of  Daniella Lot, a story of hope and tenacity as she has been a sensation in her community Rantya for a long time as that girl who plays football with boys.

Rantya is a fast-growing sub urban area in Jos.

A fast-developing locality and which has seen its fair share of attacks, notably an attack on a nearby village called Dong where 8 people were murdered in an attack by the now infamous “unknown gunmen”.

Daniella has been playing since she was 6 years and she describes football as a lifelong passion for her. Her parents were however initially opposed to it as it is still looked at as a male sport in a largely patriarchal society and women or girls playing football is frowned upon by families.

But when her parents discovered she would not let go they let her be and since then she has been aiming for the stars.

Daniella recently came back from the AITEO Women Federation Cup in Abuja where she represented Plateau State playing for Tin City Queens of Jos.

Last year she emerged the Most Valuable Player during the Plateau Women League, where she scored in every match she played even though her team was knocked out during the Semi Final and eventually came third.

She has also been at the Nigerian under 17 camp for trials.

Another amazing aspect about this young lady is that she usually trains with boys at the local pitch in Rantya and she can usually be found in the thick of action with much stronger and bigger boys when she’s not training with her regular female team.

“I like training with guys because they don’t take it lightly with me”. she explained.

She also played at tournaments sponsored by the Christian Association of Nigeria and the State Government among several others.

Her best Nigeria female footballer is Asisat Oshoala and on the World stage she admires Cristiano Ronaldo and also wears jersey No 7.

She believes female football in Nigeria is developing fast as many parents no longer frown on their daughters playing football and are more encouraging these days.

Daniella is currently the Captain of Mee’ Palace Football Academy in Jos Nigeria.