It's been a busy last two years for Bisons midfielder Dalima Chhibber, who's back in brown and gold for the first time since 2019, where she helped the Bisons soccer team their best regular season record (8-5-1) in 11 seasons (click here for more on her original signing and background). 

The international sensation out of India – who had 47 caps and 12 goals for the national team when she committed to Manitoba in 2019 – spent most of the summer travelling with India's senior women's national team, while also representing her club, Gokulam Kerala FC over the last two campaigns. 

Chhibber was in Jordan for international matches against Egypt and the host Jordanians in the spring and then travelled to Sweden for two more games against the United States and the Swedish national side. She also faced off against six-time World Player of the Year Marta Vieira da Silva and Brazil, among other strong competition. 

"There's one thing that really stood out for me in the past year, something that our head coach used to say. No matter which opponent you face, never fear them but always respect them. That is something that I've always taken forward with me," Chhibber, who's represented her home country since she was 13, said. 

"No matter who we were playing against, whether it was Brazil, Venezuela, Chile or the US, we took it one game at a time and didn't focus on anything further away."

With India's national team, the veteran Bison helped guide her side to their first AFC Asian Cup appearance since 2003. The team played a single game against Iran earlier this year before their competition was cut short due to COVID-19.                            

In between representing her country in Jordan and Sweden, Chhibber returned to India to play with Gokulam Kerala, guiding them to the India Women's League championship while starting all 11 games. In eight of those 11 matches, Chhibber logged a full 90 minutes of game time while also leading her squad in assists and
posting the highest crossing accuracy. 

Prior to securing the league title in 2022, Chhibber and Gokulam Kerala FC competed in the AFC Women's Club Championships in Jordan in November of 2021. 

"She's bringing experience of almost 16 international matches [this summer] while also playing against some of the top teams in the world," added Bisons head coach Vanessa Martinez-Lagunas, who enters her tenth year with the program in 2022. 

"She played against Brazil – Marta and company – she played against Sweden, who's ranked in the top three or four. Brazil is in the top ten. I think that is a great experience that she can come and share with her teammates, to calm them down in situations where things are not going our way with her communication and how mature she is."
 
Despite not being with the team in 2021, Chhibber followed along with the Bisons' season. Manitoba finished with a winning record in the competitive Canada West Eastern Division, and return a young roster that gained valuable U SPORTS experience a season ago. They impressed in the pre-season, playing a full schedule that included a tie against NCAA Division 1 opponent Northa Dakota and a 3-1 victory over Bemidji State, who didn't lose a regular season contest in NCAA Division 2 play in 2021.   

"Last season we had two new recruiting classes come in at the same time and now they have all adapted to U SPORTS and Canada West competition," said Chhibber.

"We played eight pre-season games against some of the top teams in Canada which have made us mentally and physically ready. There is so much positivity right now." 

'What's happened you cannot change'
Manitoba's rising stars have already staked their claim in 2022, with the likes of Breyanna Johnston-Krulicki, Jenna Kunkel, Hailey Witko, Shannon Lee, Bianca Bucci and 2021 U SPORTS All-Rookie member Bianca Cavalcanti earning a place in the starting 11. 

Alongside veterans like Chhibber, goalkeeper Karina Bagi, captain Jessica Tsai and midfielder Mackie Burdeny, the Herd swept their opening weekend on the road. They defeated Saskatchewan 1-0 – their first road win against the Huskies since 2008 – on Saturday night and followed that up with a 3-1 win over Regina in a Sunday game that was rescheduled from Friday due to weather. 

Composure from Chhibber and company was critical during both contests, especially on Friday when the team had to rally around an unexpected change. The same could be said for Saturday due to a 90-minute halftime delay caused by lightning. 

"Here, the season is going to be big. The big lesson is to take it game by game, get that result, give it 100 percent effort and no matter what happens, learn from it. Take the positives and move forward, because what's happened you cannot change," said Chhibber. "That's something that's stood by me and I look forward to carrying into the future."