Kathmandu, March 13 -- Amid the loud and frequent shouts of men at the Satdobato-based ANFA Complex during the sixth game of the Martyr's Memorial B Division League between Nayabasti Youth Club and Boys Union Club, a woman's voice-soft but commanding-cut through.

The voice came in from the technical area in front of the dugout of Boys Union Club (BUC), one of Nepal's oldest football clubs established in 1952. Wearing a white cap and spectacles, BUC's head coach Chandra Bhandari was busy guiding her players in her professional debut as a coach, a landmark in Nepal's sporting history; none of the top three tiers of Nepal's leagues had ever seen a woman head coach before.

And Bhandari said she wanted to make her entry into the big league s...