Sportzpower........MUMBAI: With the Commonwealth Games scheduled for October in Delhi, Rugby India is gearing up to perform its best at the event.
“CWG has given the Indian team a great exposure. The team has been participating in a lot of tournaments and has been given an opportunity to train itself in South Africa and New Zealand, which is the home for Rugby,” says Rugby India vice president Aga Hussain.
The team at present is training in New Zealand and would be visiting South Africa or New Zealand again before the final CWG event.
India is going to host the Commonwealth Games; but Rugby India does not intend to indulge into advertising activities. The sole reason being lack of funds. The team believes in utilising the funds for developmental activities rather than promotional and advertising activities.
“The team believes in popularising the game only by encouraging more and more people to play and watch the game,” says Hussain
At the moment, the team is backed by its long standing sponsors Kingfisher, Kukri Clothing Manufacturer, Bay Rugby (which supplies the rugby balls) and communications company E4E.
On the matter of team sponsorship Hussain says, “The sport needs sponsors who are not only popular and reputable but also committed in associating themselves with the sport. We want to focus on corporates that are genuinely interested in the game namely the FMGs and telecom sectors.”
2010 is going to be a packed year for the team, though the primary focus would naturally be on the CWG followed by the Asian Games.
As concerns the domestic level, this year the team is going to be busy participating in a lot of tournaments like the Girls Rugby Tournament which will be held in Delhi in the first week of April along with an International test tournament for the senior Rugby players later this year.
Speaking on the spread of the game in the country, Hussain says Rugby India has made a lot of efforts in popularising the game all across the nation for the last five years, with the support of the International Rugby board
Rugby development manager for India Greg Davey has been relentlessly working for the last 2.5 years focussing majorly at the grass roots in cities like Thiruvananthapuram, Sonipat, Panipat, Imphal, Srinagar and Bhubhaneshwar.
As concerns promotional activities, the rugby development officers have been giving presentations to schools, sports associations etc on the various aspects of the sport.
“This year Rugby India wants to aggressively focus on the Girl’s team. Girls have proven themselves successful and right now are in a position to be recognised in Asia,” Hussain states.
“We are expecting governmental assistance for the girl’s team to participate in the Asian games this year,” he adds.
As concerns its performance st the Delhi Games, the team does not have high hopes. “CWG is the World Cup of Rugby, wherein the best teams in the world would be participating. Indian Rugby doesn’t expect to do much. We would however give our 100 per cent,” says Hussain.
In actual fact, Hussain is more hopeful of the team making a mark and getting recognition at the Asian Games, where rugby superpowers like New Zealand, Australia and South Africa will be missing.
Talking about the problems faced by a sport like Rugby in India, Hussain states, “The biggest problem the sport faces is Infrastructure. The team has been given a ground in Delhi by Delhi University. However, the team will not be allowed to continue practising once the tournament is over. The team has dedicated and talented performers, but we lack infrastructural support.”
Another big drawback for the sport is also that corporates have not been showing much interest in associating themselves with Rugby.
“In India, corporates need to understand that there are sports other than cricket and hockey which can get them far better returns. They follow the herd mentality wherein many of the companies pay huge amounts in such sports but hardly get noticed in the crowd,” says Hussain.
Talking about government support, he says, “Government support comes only when tournaments are conducted. There is no consistent effort in developing the game. Government should start noticing other games which need assistance.”
“CWG has given the Indian team a great exposure. The team has been participating in a lot of tournaments and has been given an opportunity to train itself in South Africa and New Zealand, which is the home for Rugby,” says Rugby India vice president Aga Hussain.
The team at present is training in New Zealand and would be visiting South Africa or New Zealand again before the final CWG event.
India is going to host the Commonwealth Games; but Rugby India does not intend to indulge into advertising activities. The sole reason being lack of funds. The team believes in utilising the funds for developmental activities rather than promotional and advertising activities.
“The team believes in popularising the game only by encouraging more and more people to play and watch the game,” says Hussain
At the moment, the team is backed by its long standing sponsors Kingfisher, Kukri Clothing Manufacturer, Bay Rugby (which supplies the rugby balls) and communications company E4E.
On the matter of team sponsorship Hussain says, “The sport needs sponsors who are not only popular and reputable but also committed in associating themselves with the sport. We want to focus on corporates that are genuinely interested in the game namely the FMGs and telecom sectors.”
2010 is going to be a packed year for the team, though the primary focus would naturally be on the CWG followed by the Asian Games.
As concerns the domestic level, this year the team is going to be busy participating in a lot of tournaments like the Girls Rugby Tournament which will be held in Delhi in the first week of April along with an International test tournament for the senior Rugby players later this year.
Speaking on the spread of the game in the country, Hussain says Rugby India has made a lot of efforts in popularising the game all across the nation for the last five years, with the support of the International Rugby board
Rugby development manager for India Greg Davey has been relentlessly working for the last 2.5 years focussing majorly at the grass roots in cities like Thiruvananthapuram, Sonipat, Panipat, Imphal, Srinagar and Bhubhaneshwar.
As concerns promotional activities, the rugby development officers have been giving presentations to schools, sports associations etc on the various aspects of the sport.
“This year Rugby India wants to aggressively focus on the Girl’s team. Girls have proven themselves successful and right now are in a position to be recognised in Asia,” Hussain states.
“We are expecting governmental assistance for the girl’s team to participate in the Asian games this year,” he adds.
As concerns its performance st the Delhi Games, the team does not have high hopes. “CWG is the World Cup of Rugby, wherein the best teams in the world would be participating. Indian Rugby doesn’t expect to do much. We would however give our 100 per cent,” says Hussain.
In actual fact, Hussain is more hopeful of the team making a mark and getting recognition at the Asian Games, where rugby superpowers like New Zealand, Australia and South Africa will be missing.
Talking about the problems faced by a sport like Rugby in India, Hussain states, “The biggest problem the sport faces is Infrastructure. The team has been given a ground in Delhi by Delhi University. However, the team will not be allowed to continue practising once the tournament is over. The team has dedicated and talented performers, but we lack infrastructural support.”
Another big drawback for the sport is also that corporates have not been showing much interest in associating themselves with Rugby.
“In India, corporates need to understand that there are sports other than cricket and hockey which can get them far better returns. They follow the herd mentality wherein many of the companies pay huge amounts in such sports but hardly get noticed in the crowd,” says Hussain.
Talking about government support, he says, “Government support comes only when tournaments are conducted. There is no consistent effort in developing the game. Government should start noticing other games which need assistance.”
No comments:
Post a Comment