Sunita Kumari is a 17-year-old girl from Koilari village in Jharkhand, India who plays and coaches football with the NGO Yuwa. Sunita has been playing football with the Yuwa since 2010, despite community resistance to girls wearing shorts and competing in sports. Sunita was a key member of the first Indian football team (men’s or women’s) to compete in Spain—her Yuwa team made headlines by taking 3^rd place in the Gasteiz Cup in 2013. This year, Sunita has raised the bar about what it means to be a leader—she coaches football and leads academic classes and life-skills workshops for younger girls and boys. She joined the college-preparatory Yuwa School this year, and brought both of her younger sisters into the school as well. Sunita is paying for all of their school fees through her coaching—she receives no financial support from her father. Sunita and her teammates have broken away from what is expected of girls in villages—they strive to attend good universities, become financially independent, and help other girls to do the same thing.