Being the first female Arjuna Awardee from Jharkhand, Salima Tete also cherished the delight of reaching the final of the maiden Women's Hockey India League (WHIL). 

Salima who played for Soorma Club even did not seem upset with the loss in the final against Odisha Warriors by 1-2. Rather, the Indian captain sounded thrilled to have seen the enthusiasm for women's hockey in its introductory year. 

“You must have noticed the excitement surrounding our match. The Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astroturf stadium was packed. The WHIL will help the potential girls to grow up in hockey in the future," Salima explained while speaking to Parallel Sports on Monday. 

Simultaneously, Salima pointed out saying, “Playing with quality foreign players will also help us to improve our game as it helps in the men’s HIL.” 

The 24-year-old midfielder sounded also inspired to have noticed several girls, coming up to play the game in her village Barkichapar village in Simdega, one of the most Left Wing Extremism (LWE) districts in Jharkhand. 

Salima must not have forgotten the struggling days when she used to hit a hockey ball with bamboo. Her father Sulakshan Tete was a farmer and had to struggle financially to feed his family. But as he was a hockey player, Salima got a love for the game and support from his parents. 

She regularly participated in the Lathakhaman hockey tournament with her father every year. Participating in this tournament became the turning point of her journey. Her skill was noticed by Manoj Konbegi, the organizer of the Lathakhaman hockey tournament and then joint secretary of Hockey Simdega, now the President of the Simdega Hockey Association. Salima won the Best Player’s award in the tournament in 2011. 

That might have been the reason Salima stated "The Arjuna Award is a dream for any athlete. But at the same time, I feel more proud when I see several girls are inspired by my award and coming up with hockey sticks." 

When asked about her future goal, Salima revealed she wants to win the gold medal with the Indian women's team in the next Asian Games which will help them to earn qualification for the next Olympics directly. 

At the same time, the midfielder put belief in Harendra Singh, the present coach of the Indian women's team saying, "He is very experienced and his ability to motivate the players is excellent also. The players get another advantage of having an Indian coach that there becomes no language problem."