Meeting a bum chum after 20 years is ecstatic. Getting to know that young boys from our state are world champions is Priceless. Next to a couple of bottles of beer and a few glasses of orange juice, lay the TV Remote waiting to be used during the EURO Cup Final as we caught up with old times. We went back to our school days, from our punishments, to standing up on the bench, kneeling down outside the class in a group and enjoying the story of an Amitabh Bachchan starrer Sunday feature film, to the school sports and teachers, the list was endless. As I faintly mentioned about my undying interest in sports and latest interest in writing, my friend suddenly came up with something pleasantly shocking, about the victory of the tribal boys from Orissa (Odisha as it is now called) in the Youth Rugby World Cup in 2007. How on earth did I miss that?
The team almost didn’t make it to London because the players didn’t even have valid birth certificates that are mandatory for their passports. Now take that for a shocker. A group of 12 shy boys, including some who wore shoes for the first time a couple of years ago, sat together huddled in a Kolkata Hotel were actually the world champions. They called themselves, very aptly, the "Jungle Crows". Short, easy to spell and not much of a complication, as the name suggested. They had defeated a more experienced South African team, "Langa Lions", 19-5 to lift the International School Rugby Tournament. "It was a dream come true" said Bikash Chandra Murmu, a gawky 14 year old, captain of the side. Along with him were a few others from some of the backward districts of Odisha - Chittaranjan Murmu, Babulal Malka, Rajkishore Murmu, Bukei Hansda, Niranjan Biswal, Hadi Dhanga Majhi, Sahadev Majhi, Gorang Jamuda, Narasingh Kerei, Barial Behera and Ganesh Hembram as they marched ahead for the felicitation ceremony in the hotel. The team defeated the likes of Zambia, Romania, Kenya and Swaziland to reach the final.
“These boys are not frightened by bigger boys and they tackle really well,” said Tim Grandage, who runs the Kolkata-based rugby team, Future Hope. Tim was quite prognostic in saying "They are going to be tough to beat". The boys are from the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, a residential institution for tribal students in Bhubaneswar and are part of some 5,000 tribal students given free residence and education, from kindergarten to post graduation, according to Achyut Samanta, founder-secretary of the institute.
"What makes the Victory even more remarkable is the fact that the boys started playing the game barely four months ago" said frenzied Samanta.
“Rugby, as a whole, is picking up steam in India,” said Agha Raza Hussain, vice-president of the Indian Rugby Football Union. “Apart from the army and the various police forces, individuals are taking to rugby in a big way,” he added. Hussain, whose son Nasser is the captain of the national team, said measures such as hiring a coach from Fiji and a regional development manager from New Zealand, famous for its All Blacks (rugby team), would help in a big way. The Odisha boys were trained by Jungle Crows’ English Rugby Association coach Paul Walsh and Kolkata-based coach Sellen Tudu, apart from Sanjay Patra, also a city boy.
“They are clever and well-organized and totally committed in attack and defence,” said Walsh. Himself a hardened rugby player, Walsh is all praise for his wards. “Often, the boys got sick travelling in buses and trains, but it never stopped them,” he said, adding, “Even when very cold, they stepped up and focused on the game.”
“Being tribals, these boys are naturally gifted with fitness and agility, but what made the difference was the hard training that they did together,” said Grandage.
However, Walsh laments the fact that big companies still don’t feel attracted to the sport. “Though we have had a great response from some corporates, namely, JCB India Ltd, BOC India Ltd and a few others, who support the Crows, we were unable to find a sponsor for this tour,” he said. While in England, the boys stayed with host families. “They made such an impression that there were lots of tears when they left,” said Walsh. “Nobody had a bad word to say about the boys; they were tremendous ambassadors for India.”
Murmu, a class IX student is already making plans to follow his dream. To become a Scientist, what did you think??
The team almost didn’t make it to London because the players didn’t even have valid birth certificates that are mandatory for their passports. Now take that for a shocker. A group of 12 shy boys, including some who wore shoes for the first time a couple of years ago, sat together huddled in a Kolkata Hotel were actually the world champions. They called themselves, very aptly, the "Jungle Crows". Short, easy to spell and not much of a complication, as the name suggested. They had defeated a more experienced South African team, "Langa Lions", 19-5 to lift the International School Rugby Tournament. "It was a dream come true" said Bikash Chandra Murmu, a gawky 14 year old, captain of the side. Along with him were a few others from some of the backward districts of Odisha - Chittaranjan Murmu, Babulal Malka, Rajkishore Murmu, Bukei Hansda, Niranjan Biswal, Hadi Dhanga Majhi, Sahadev Majhi, Gorang Jamuda, Narasingh Kerei, Barial Behera and Ganesh Hembram as they marched ahead for the felicitation ceremony in the hotel. The team defeated the likes of Zambia, Romania, Kenya and Swaziland to reach the final.
“These boys are not frightened by bigger boys and they tackle really well,” said Tim Grandage, who runs the Kolkata-based rugby team, Future Hope. Tim was quite prognostic in saying "They are going to be tough to beat". The boys are from the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, a residential institution for tribal students in Bhubaneswar and are part of some 5,000 tribal students given free residence and education, from kindergarten to post graduation, according to Achyut Samanta, founder-secretary of the institute.
"What makes the Victory even more remarkable is the fact that the boys started playing the game barely four months ago" said frenzied Samanta.
“Rugby, as a whole, is picking up steam in India,” said Agha Raza Hussain, vice-president of the Indian Rugby Football Union. “Apart from the army and the various police forces, individuals are taking to rugby in a big way,” he added. Hussain, whose son Nasser is the captain of the national team, said measures such as hiring a coach from Fiji and a regional development manager from New Zealand, famous for its All Blacks (rugby team), would help in a big way. The Odisha boys were trained by Jungle Crows’ English Rugby Association coach Paul Walsh and Kolkata-based coach Sellen Tudu, apart from Sanjay Patra, also a city boy.
“They are clever and well-organized and totally committed in attack and defence,” said Walsh. Himself a hardened rugby player, Walsh is all praise for his wards. “Often, the boys got sick travelling in buses and trains, but it never stopped them,” he said, adding, “Even when very cold, they stepped up and focused on the game.”
“Being tribals, these boys are naturally gifted with fitness and agility, but what made the difference was the hard training that they did together,” said Grandage.
However, Walsh laments the fact that big companies still don’t feel attracted to the sport. “Though we have had a great response from some corporates, namely, JCB India Ltd, BOC India Ltd and a few others, who support the Crows, we were unable to find a sponsor for this tour,” he said. While in England, the boys stayed with host families. “They made such an impression that there were lots of tears when they left,” said Walsh. “Nobody had a bad word to say about the boys; they were tremendous ambassadors for India.”
Murmu, a class IX student is already making plans to follow his dream. To become a Scientist, what did you think??
:- Rakesh S Ranbir
That is the paradox of Indian sport and its obsession with cricket. For a country that has its own private league for the gentleman's game there weren't enough gentlemen to put the spotlight on these boys or our athletes missing qualification games because of they were unable to raise a few thousand rupees. Will be interesting to see how and who encouraged these boys to take their passion to the next level.
ReplyDeleteLuckily it did not catch the Government bodies or the sports ministry at the local level. Mr. Achyut Samant, the Managing Director of KIIT foundation, took enough care of these boys and their grit. There are a few more worth mentioning out here. Tim Grandage, Paul Walsh and local coach Sanjay Patra believed that this bunch of guys could bring in the glory..
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