Behind that sweet smile, Ganis Rumpoko is a hardcore supporter of soccer club Arema Malang. She's taking forward an online initiative to save her favorite team.

Known by its nickname Singo Edan (crazy lion), Arema Malang, or now Arema Cronus FC, is one of Indonesia'€™s most popular soccer clubs. Hailing from Malang, East Java, the club'€™s die-hard fans call themselves Aremania. Their brutality seems to liken them to the British soccer hooligans of yesteryear.

Born and bred in Malang, Ganis has been a supporter of the team since she was little. Her late grandfather, Sugiono, was a founding member of the club. Ganis'€™ involvement as a young supporter was limited to watching the team'€™s matches regularly.

'€œWatching Arema'€™s games was never an issue for Malang residents at that time. Almost everyone was watching the games. If you went to the stadium, you would meet your neighbors, school friends and even your teachers,'€ the 24-year-old told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.

Amid the male-dominated world of soccer fandom, Ganis stands out among the crowd. She also has a different way of showing her support for the team she loves.

Recently, she created an online petition demanding transparency from the club'€™s management, PT Pelita Jaya Cronus. She reasoned that the lack of information on the club'€™s legality and ownership had brought serious problems to the club, resulting in the team being banned from the Indonesian league.

Created in April, the petition had already gathered 2,300 signatures by the end of May, just shy of the target of 2,500 signatures. For this achievement, the online petition website change.org named Ganis as one of seven female figures of social change in 2015.

Ganis said she created the petition only has a fan who wanted the best for her soccer team.

The petition has also drawn criticism from several parties. Ganis'€™ Twitter account has swarmed with protests from those concerned that her acts may lead to the team'€™s closure.

The petition has also affected her relationship with her father, Eddy Rumpoko, the former mayor of Malang.

'€œAt first, he gave me the silent treatment but I thought it was because he didn'€™t understand technology. He thought I'€™d created some weird movement,'€ she said, adding that her relationship with her father had returned to normal after she explained the petition to him.

Ganis said she was very close with her father and considered him her friend.

'€œWe like to discuss things, especially politics. We have different opinions about certain issues,'€ she said.

Ganis spent her childhood in Malang and she has always been interested in soccer.

'€œI'€™ve always liked sports. I'€™ve always participated in any kind of sports, except for football because it still feels weird when women play soccer . But I still love it because of the supporters'€™ enthusiasm and the huge media coverage,'€ she said.

Ganis now lives in Yogyakarta, where she pursues her studies. She finished her undergraduate degree in anthropology in 2012 with a thesis on female soccer supporters.

'€œThe idea of women being soccer fans isn'€™t weird anymore, because football has become an industry and women have become one of its targets,'€ said Ganis.

Ganis is now pursuing a master'€™s degree, with a thesis topic on ketoprak, traditional Javanese theater, in East Java.

'€œI am now writing a thesis and am a content writer for a website,'€ she said.

Before going back to college, she went to Jakarta to be a reporter for a media house. Yet, she decided to resign after one year and went back to Yogyakarta.

After her petition went viral, the management did take forward some reconciliation efforts with former managers.

'€œThey have denied that it happened because of the online petition but it did occur after the petition went online,'€ she said.

She also added that she was waiting for the current youth and sports minister to act, as he had pledged to intervene in the reconciliation process.

As a soccer fan, Ganis may have high hopes for her soccer team, but for her personal life, her aspirations are simple.

'€œI want to get married and open a business. Perhaps I'€™ll try to become an academic,'€ she said.

'€” Photo courtesy of Ganis Rumpoko

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