Delhi's women rugby team makes inroads into men's bastion

Published>Tue, May 25 10 05:54 AM

Like any 16-year-old, Sandhya Chauhan enjoys dressing up and catching up with friends over weekends. But when she is not living the life of a regular teenager, she enjoys tackling female opponents to the ground and fiercely prying the ball from them.

The vibrant teen from Darbari Lal DAV Public School plays in the forward position in Delhi's first senior women's rugby team.

"Off the field one can be as elegant as one wants. On the field, however, we are sportswomen and focus on giving our 100 per cent to the sport," says Chauhan, whose bruise on the left cheekbone is a testament to the aggressive nature of the game.

While rugby is commonly associated with raw aggression and beefy men clashing roughly on field, women's rugby has picked up in the last three to four years in India.

"Women's rugby is a popular sport across countries like Japan, Ireland, UK, Canada and Italy, but sadly it was slow to pick up here. After a massive awareness drive this year, we managed to get a handful of girls who were keen to know more about the sport and represent Delhi," says V V Kumar, coach for the Delhi women's senior rugby and boys' under-16 rugby teams.

In January, Kumar organised the awareness drive that included visiting five schools and colleges in the city and convincing the faculty of the need for a women's rugby team. "I was always confident of getting my team. I just had to make the right selection," stresses Kumar, himself a Delhi state rugby player. After conducting demonstrations at the institutes, he succeeded in gathering 15 to 16 girls by April. "I had never heard of women's rugby before. But once I saw a demonstration of the game, I was eager to take it up seriously," says Priya Chandela (17), from DAV School.

The 16-member Delhi women's comprises players aged 16 to 17 with the remaining members from DU colleges like SPM and IGI.

This month, the team played the All India Women's Rugby Sevens Tournament in the Capital and finished seventh among 16 teams. "We were unprepared since we got to practise for just two weeks. Since this was also the first time we were playing at the national level, we faltered," says Chauhan, also a national-level judo player.

For most of the players, rugby is just one of the sports that interest them. They try to apply their skills from different sports and work on their concentration and mental toughness. "This is a rough game. I can also apply my judo skills on the field at times. Besides, rugby is a complete workout and helps to improve my stamina," she adds.

With another national-level tournament lined up in June, the girls are now busy training six days a week. "It takes a minimum of six months for a team to be up to the mark. They have been practising for just three," says Kumar.

For Kritika Singhal, the game proves even girls are capable of playing a physically demanding sport. "For those who mock our skills, we challenge them to an open rugby match," she says.

Source: Web Search