At sharp 5:30 every morning, while most of the city is still asleep, the ground of the Government Arts and Sports College comes alive with the sound of sprinting shoes, whistles and determined voices.Girls in their earlier teens walk in with dreams in their eyes, confidence and owning the ground as if they already belong to bigger stages. For the next two hours, these athletes immerse themselves completely in training, listening carefully to every instruction from their coach, pushing through drills and chasing a dream they all share: Achieve something big in life.These girls cleared the Punjab Institute of Sports (PIS) trials two months ago. Around 80 girls from across the state had appeared for the selection process and 15 made the cut.For many of them, the selection meant access to free diet, hostel facilities, gym training and expert coaching, opportunities their families could never afford otherwise.For some, sport is not just passion, it is hope to change the destiny of their families. Among them are Dimple from Fazilka and Sukhmanpreet Kaur from Khosa Pando village in Moga.When Sukhman arrived at the hostel with her mother, the farewell turned emotional. Before leaving, her mother quietly handed her Rs 500, perhaps all she could spare. Sukhman broke down. “Tu kendi hai na, asi gareebi cho baahar aana hai, te us layi bahut mehnat karni hai,” her mother Lakhwinder Kaur told her.Sukhman’s father had once dreamt of becoming a kabaddi player. But poverty shattered his dream. Unable to afford even a proper diet required for the sport, he took up a labourer’s job at a factory in Moga before moving to Dubai. He is now unemployed there.Despite his struggles, he never let his daughter’s dream fade away. After long factory shifts in Moga, he would still take young Sukhman to the playground every day, teaching her basic skills and helping her develop love for sports. As her talent grew, so did the family’s worries. They could not afford the nutrition needed for proper training. Amid the odds, she (Sukhman) kept winning medals in school competitions.“At least she would get a diet there,” says Lakhwinder softly while explaining why they encouraged her to appear for the PIS trials.Dimple’s story is equally powerful. The teenager from Fazilka belongs to a family of three, including her mother and great-grandmother. The family survives on the modest Rs 9,000 her mother makes by doing small jobs. “I am a single mother raising a daughter. I live with my grandmother. It is very difficult to run the family, but I work very hard,” her mother Shakuntla says. Despite the hardships, Dimple dares to dream big.Both Dimple and Sukhman have already won medals at state-level school games over the last two years.Their coach Sarabjeet Singh Happy sees “fire” in these girls every single day. During training sessions, he often asks them: “What do you want to do?” The girls instantly respond, “We want to represent India.” But the coach pushes them to dream even bigger. “No,” he tells them firmly, adding, “Say you want to win medals. Only then will you achieve that. Apna vision wadda rakho.” He also makes girls talk to athletes who used to practise on the same ground and are now winning laurels at the national and international levels.The coach said the PIS trials were rigorous and designed to test the overall athletic ability. “Overall performance, marks and rankings, everything was checked,” he said.Back on the field, the girls continue training under the rising morning sun — running harder, jumping higher and dreaming bigger.