Bisons women's soccer is pleased to announce a landmark signing for the 2019-20 recruitment class, as former India national team captain Dalima Chhibber will join the brown and gold this fall.
Chhibber, 21 (22 on August 30), is an esteemed player on the international level, playing in 47 matches since 2016 and scoring 12 goals for the India senior women's national team. She has served as captain of both the senior team and the U-19 team. The New Delhi native was also captain of her All India Football Federation club team, Pune City FC, in 2016-17 and played for India Rush SC in 2017-18.
Chhibber's most recent memorable performance came at the 2019 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship — which pits the international teams of the region against one another — where she scored a 40-yard free kick as part of India's 3-1 win over Nepal in the championship final. The 5'6" midfielder was named MVP of the tournament. Chhibber and India were also winners of the SAFF Championship in 2016.
"I am very excited to welcome Dalima to Canada, the U of M, and our Bisons women's soccer program," said Bisons head coach Vanessa Martinez Lagunas. "She is, to date, the most experienced international player that our program has had the honour to recruit. I anticipate that she will make a significant positive impact in terms of team performance and team culture both on and off the field.
She has become the face of women's soccer in her country and is a very fit, technical, tactically smart, and mentally strong player — someone who will help us to keep raising the standards and competitiveness of our program. She also excels in the classroom and will become a great leader and role model for our current and future Bisons players."
The New Delhi, India native will be pursuing graduate studies in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management in the area of Sports Psychology at the University of Manitoba.
"I chose the U of M because it has a great faculty with professors who have done some amazing research work," said Chhibber. "I have also read about the university online. The Bisons soccer team is one of the best university teams I have heard of and is managed by highly qualified coaches and staff.
It will be a very nice and important learning opportunity and experience for me, personally. I am super excited because I will be playing for a foreign team for the first time and with players from various other countries."
Chhibber joins a recruitment class that also includes Canadian talent in Stefanie Young, Alex Paul, Anna Biebrich, Rebecca Wilson-Abreu, Jessica Tsai, and Jane Morris, as well as Brazil native Bianca Cavalcanti and Mexico native Tabata Bravo. The Bisons women's soccer team is coming off a 6-5-3 season in Canada West play in 2018, where they qualified for the post-season, losing in the play-in round to UNBC (1-1; 1-3 in shootout).
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