Other Types of Sports
Sheikh Iraj
Taking part in sports has many benefits. It is a scientific fact that doing sports improves our physical and mental strength. For youths, it is particularly important to practise sports for personal development and wellbeing. There is little double we are a cricket and football-crazy nation. That being said, there are many youths who have interest in other types of sports. Some of these sports are rugby, golf, handball, wrestling, badminton, table tennis, cycling, roll ball and basketball. All in all, there are about 50 sports federations in our country. This week, YI spoke with some players and officials to find out about their experiences, challenges, achievements and future plans.
Rugby
Rugby is relatively a new sport in our country, but it is gaining popularly fast.
Mousum Ali, general secretary of Bangladesh Rugby Federation Union, told YI: We started our journey in 2006 and in the past 11 years, we have come a long way. Today, we organise a number of rugby tournaments throughout the year. Last year, we participated in Asian Rugby championship in Qatar and we did relatively well there. The most interesting thing about rugby in Bangladesh is that when we first started, people thought we were crazy to take the initiative to introduce such a sport in our country. However, our weather is very convenient for playing rugby. Rugby can be played on mud, sand, grass, and we happen to be a country where it rains a lot.
This coming August, we are going to Singapore to participate in the Asian Rugby qualifying tournament. A dozen players and four rugby federation officials will go there. Now, thanks to the National Sports Councils help, we have launched talent hunt camps in 15 colleges, with the slogan Get in Rugby. We are hopeful that through such programmes, we will be able to popularise rugby in many other educational institutions. We also believe that through such initiatives, we will get some players who can play for our national team some day, Ali added.
Golf
Compared to others, golf is a relatively expensive sport to play. Nevertheless, there are plenty of opportunities for youths to play golf in our country.
M Ali Nowab, manager (administration) of Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka, informed this reporter over the phone: There are 23 golf clubs in our country and 13 of them are affiliated with the Bangladesh Golf Federation. Nowadays, talented young players are regularly practising in these clubs. If any youth wants to play golf and they do not have the right equipment or dont know how to play, they need not worry. In all of our golf clubs, players can borrow golf clubs for Taka 1,000 for one hour. Again, there are experts who will teach you how to play for a fee of Taka 500 per hour.
Navid Hossain is a student of Independent University of Bangladesh. I love to play golf. I find it to be quite relaxing and it has helped me with my fitness as well, Hossain, who plays golf at Kurmitola Golf Club, said.
Handball
At some of popular schools in Dhaka, handball is quite popular. S M Khalequzzaman, assistant general secretary of Bangladesh Handball Federation, told YI: In 2016, we organised a national handball championship and through that, we were able to identify some talented players. Then again in 2016, 35 coaches from our federation went from district to district to find more talented players. Later, out of those players, we chose 45 male and 45 female handball players to participate in various training camps. In 2017, we secured 3rd position, among seven participating countries, in the IHF (International Handball Federation) Trophy held in Pakistan. This year, we participated in the South Asian Championship (in India). There, we did very well, if you consider the little time we had to practise before the tournament. Yearly, we spend more than Taka 100,000 on our activities. Now, though there is growing interest among the youth, the number of female players is decreasing.
Ayesha Afrin, 14, is a student of class-9 at Viqarunnisa Noon School and College in Dhaka. She will soon be travelling to Germany to represent her school in a handball tournament. I remember I was in class-5 when I first got interested in playing handball. My seniors at school used to play and they helped me to learn the sport. We practise regularly in our school, but for tournaments, we train at the National Handball Stadium. Beside our school, many other school students also practise there, Afrin said. I am a little bit disappointed that when we participate in different tournaments, it is not covered that much in the media. I am a regular subscriber to a number of English and Bangla dailies. But in the sports section, all I see is sports news from other countries. I am really baffled why sports or the tournaments that take place in Bangladesh do not get as much coverage, she added.
Roll Ball
Last year, the 4th Roll Ball World Cup was held in Dhaka. More than 750 players from 49 countries participated in the tournament. Roll ball is a hybrid of basketball and handball, played on roller skates.
Ahmed Asiful Hassan, general secretary of Bangladesh Roller Skating Federation, said: After last years tournament, we have been receiving tremendous response from district-level players. They are contacting us and we are trying to keep them engaged as much as possible. In 1994, the Bangladesh Roller Skating Federation started its journey. Today, we have an excellent practice ground at Sheikh Russel Roller Skating Complex. We have more than 3,000 registered roller skaters all over the country. Every year, we receive Taka 300,000 from the government to carry out our activities.
M Nowsif Hossain, 31, is a businessman and a roller skater. I have been associated with roller skating for the past 17 years. I am very happy to see how so many boys and girls are interested in this sport now, compared to a few years ago. Besides youths, many parents also come to see us practise. The surprising thing is many of them bring along their young children to learn roller skating. Right now, our national players are preparing for the 2020 Youth Olympics.
Wrestling
Just a couple of decade ago, there used to be a number of local facilities for practising wrestling in Dhaka. Today, wrestling is making a comeback with the help of social media. For example, boli khela, a form of traditional wrestling from Chittagong, is quite popular.
Taibur Rahman, general secretary Bangladesh Amateur Wrestling Federation, said: Today there is certainly a lot of interest among the youth about this sport. However, we do not have adequate facilities to deliver good results. We receive about Taka 5.5 lakh (550,000) every year. I am more concerned about our practice ground. We practise at the National Sports Council gymnasium, where players of other sports also practise. In a nutshell, we need a bigger and better place to practise. Every year, we arrange more than five tournaments. We organised a talent hunt last year. But due to various problems, we are not sure when we will be able to organise another one.
Shemin Sultana, 27, a wrestler, said: At the end of this month, I am going to Australia to participate in a tournament. These days, many girls are showing interest in amateur wrestling, which is a positive thing. That being said, we need more support from our parents and we need more organisers. We need people who are passionate about wrestling and are willing to work to improve the sport in our country. Every year at the National Amateur Wrestling Championship, more than 200 wrestlers come to participate. The interesting thing is the ratio of boys and girls in wrestling is nearly the same in our country.
Basketball
AK Sarker, general secretary of Bangladesh Basketball Federation, said: Most of our players come from English medium schools in the capital, and we have some players from other parts of the country. We have about 700 registered players in our federation. The problem we are facing is many female players are not able to continue with this sport. Many of them are quite talented. But due to commitment to their studies, social life and even marriage, they are not able to carry on playing. Now, we are also hearing that our practice ground will be moved from Dhanmondi, but we are yet to be informed where we are going.
Cycling
Today, cycling is regaining popularity in the capital, mostly due to increase in traffic jams. This means more and more young people are showing interest in taking up cycling as a sport and turn professional.
Parvez Hassan, general secretary of Bangladesh Cycling Federation, said: There are plenty of youths out there who want to join our federation. At the moment, there are 250 cyclists who are involved with our federation and regularly practise with us. Nowadays, a number of cycling tournaments are held and some of our cyclists take part in them as well. In 2016, we organised a talent hunt programme. We receive Taka 4 lakh (400,000) from the National Sports Council annually. We need a proper cycling track in order to practise in a more professional manner. We are going to launch our official website soon. I think through the website, more youths will get to know better about our activities and facilities. No fee is required to join our federation.
Jahid Islam recently graduated from Northern University Bangladesh and has a passion for cycling, as well as photography. This reporter found him outside Bangabandhu National Stadium as he was looking for the cycling federation office. I am just curious to see how professional cyclists practise and if possible, I would like to join as well, he said.
Table Tennis
Hassan Monir, general secretary of Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation (BTTF), said: Every year, we organise a number of local tournaments. Our senior and junior national teams participate in various international tournaments all the time. Soon, our junior national team will go to the Maldives to take part in the South Asian Junior Competition. When it comes to table tennis in educational institutions, I must say private universities often organise inter-university tournaments, and some public universities are quite active as well. To do better in this sport, we need the support of the public and the media.
In our local league games, each team is allowed to play a foreign player. M Lashim is an Egyptian table tennis player who came to Dhaka to participate in a local tournament. There is immense talent in Bangladesh when it comes to table tennis. Egypt is ranked higher than Bangladesh in table tennis, but back home we do not have so many youths showing so much interest in this or any other sports. I believe with proper guidance and talent hunt, Bangladesh can have an excellent table tennis national team, he told this reporter over the phone.
Badminton
Bangladesh Badminton Federation informed YI: With the help of Australian Badminton Federation and World Badminton Federation, Bangladesh Badminton Federation is running a training programme in 16 districts and in different schools.
Photos : Internet
