Why tribals from Jharkhand are dominating Indian Sports?
Hello, sports lovers!
The Indian tribal sports community has always produced magnificent talents who have brought many medals and laurels to the country. Jharkhand has produced countless athletes who have been instrumental in the country’s success in Sports. The robust and efficient athletes from tribal areas have been involved in sports since the early 1980s and the culture seems to have grown from strength to strength in the coming years.
A beginning of something extraordinary for tribal sports in Jharkhand
In 1885, sports were introduced in Jharkhand, to build a better relationship with people. Young men were then associated with Anglican Church in Ranchi and participated in the Beighton Cup under the name of SPG Mission, Ranchi. The team consisted of players like Nehemia Minz, a carpenter, Sadho Kachhap, a cook, etc. From 1897 to 1907, the team’s Baton Cup victories highlighted the Chhota Nagpur tribe’s talent. The team won the cup 6 times and remained champion for three consecutive years.
Sumrai Tete: A little girl with big dreams
Sumrai Tete, from Kasira Baliyajor hamlet in the Bolba block, used sticks made of kendu (ebony) and baans (bamboo) to play hockey. In 1990, her talent was discovered by former District Sports Officer Robert Kispotta and international hockey coach Narendra Singh Saini. She was then brought to train in the State Hockey Training Centre at the Government Girls High School, Ranchi where she held the hockey stick for the first time. 5 years later, Sumrai made her debut for India. She played more than 100 international matches as well as captained a few of them in her career span. After retirement, she became the coach for the national team. She is the first female hockey player to win the Major Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games in 2017.
The Growth of Tribals in Football
India participated for the first time in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2022 of which Ashtam Oraon of Banari Gorratoli village was the captain. Apart from Ashtam, the team included Neelu Linda, Sudha Ankita Tirkey, etc.? Ashtam’s rising fame induced the government to build roads in her village, and to give a television and inverter to her family. Ironically, her parents, who were wage workers, were the ones who worked to build the road in her village. Ashtam was made the brand ambassador of Savitribai Phule Kishori Samridhi Yojna by the Gumla District Administration. A stadium is also going to be built under her name in her village.?
Other Notable Athletes from Jharkhand
Jaipal Singh Munda became the first star of the tribal sports community. His headmaster took him to England. Jaipal Singh played Football, Cricket as well as Tennis. During his tenure as a captain in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, Jaipal took India to the final and won the gold medal.
?Silvanus Dungdung from Simdega was a member of the team which last handed victory to India in a hockey gold medal in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.?
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?Nikki Pradhan made history by being the first female hockey player from Jharkhand to compete in two Olympic competitions.?
?Sujit Munda of Ranchi will represent India in the third Blind T-20 World Cup, which will take place from December 6–17, 2022. Sujit is from an extremely low-income family, where three of his brothers are labourers.
Special Characteristics of Tribal Sports
People from the sports community like Narendra Saini, Sanjeev Kumar Singh, Dashrath Mahto, Manoj Konbegi and Bholanath Singh think alike about the special characteristics of the Tribal sportspersons. They believe that the tribal people are naturally talented and skilful which can be refined by training. Sanjeev Kumar Singh feels that archery and hockey flow into the DNA of the tribal people. The young children of the tribal community look upon Sports as a possible career option due to their poverty. They believe that the tribals’ tenacity in their blood is due to their geographical location, the food they eat, and the circumstances in which they live.?
Initiatives
Franz Gastler, a US citizen, began teaching football to local tribal females in Hutup, Ormanjhi, in Ranchi in 2008. This tribal sports training program was created by YUWA in response to the problems of child marriage, human trafficking, and children dropping out of high school and college. Within a few years, 8 tribal girls and 2 boys were sent to Spain for special Football Training. They represented the side: Real Sociedad! Education is also taken care of here. The school was also started by YUWA in 2015 where English is taught to each student.
In 2013, Anand Prasad Gop started football training with 15 girls in Irba, a very small town in Jharkhand. Today, a total of 250 sportsmen have been trained in six villages. The girls have represented 4 national competitions and three international competitions.
Well, That’s it for today
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