Gulnahar Mahbub Monika is one of the nineteen Bangladeshi changemakers to receive the 2021 Diana Award. She is the youngest female athlete of Bangladesh to earn this accolade. Monika and Ashreen Mridha are the co-founders of Deshi Ballers, a platform for female basketball players who are determined to follow their athletic pursuits.

Being no stranger to winning accolades in her motherland, Monika also participated in the 58th International Session of the International Olympic Academy for Young Participants, in 2018. The following year, she was invited to the One Young World International Summit, where she was championed by The Queen's Commonwealth Trust, and met The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. This year, she was invited to the Championship Principles, a sports exchange programme by AAU Global Coach Academy and the US State Department.

The national-level basketball player discovered the sport when she was in the fifth grade. Her coaches were Niaz Moula, Sayeed Ahmed, and Mahtabur Rahman Bulbul.

Monika juggles being the Project Manager at Alice Labs and creating opportunities for women in basketball.  "I want to complete my master's in Sports Management, and continue playing for my country. Deshi Ballers aims to inaugurate the first ever national women's basketball league in Bangladesh by 2024," she says.

Since their inception in 2018, Deshi Ballers has won accolades such as the Joy Bangla Youth Award and Plan International Equality Award.

In the 16 years that Monika has played basketball, she observed that sports communities are alarmingly discriminating against women. Her personal experiences led her to want to build a better and more inclusive future for women in sports.

For young girls whose lives in the basketball court are just beginning, Monika has some earnest advice. "Never give up playing the sport which makes you happy. There will be many obstacles, but if you are determined to succeed and represent your country globally, opportunities will fly towards you," she concludes.  

The author is a freelance journalist. Email: shanzaychowdhury@gmail.com