Half the population of our country is women. No socio-economic, political and cultural development is possible without the participation of women. Nowadays, we have seen women’s participation in the workplace, in leadership roles in political and social arenas, and in different types of sports.

Cricket is now a very popular game in Bangladesh and some young women have enthusiastically taken up the sport as a profession.  But in a society where gender disparity still exists, it is often difficult for women to exercise their right to equal participation in every field. However, the female students of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) are setting a great example and inspiring other young women by taking part in sports like handball, volleyball and cricket.

Last month, a women’s cricket tournament was held in SUST for the first time, organised by SPORTS SUST, the only sports organisation of the university. Eight teams, named Fireflies, Aurora, Thada Sixers, Glitch, ECO Leo, SOC Fire Birds, Anthro Hard Hitters and Thrusters, from various departments participated in the tournament, which was held November 19-23 at the university’s handball court. Team Aurora from the Department of Geography and Environmental Science became the champion, while team Anthro Hard Hitters from the Department of Anthropology was the runner-up.

Talking about the tournament, SM Towky, president of SPORTS SUST, said: “Shahjalal University of Science and Technology is always ahead in sports and cultural aspects. Though there are many opportunities in sports for boys on our campus, our girls are a little behind. Considering this, we organised the women’s cricket tournament, the first of its kind at university level in Bangladesh. We got a lot of response from the girls and eight teams participated in the tournament and displayed brilliant cricket. I think this is a new milestone in the development of women’s cricket in Bangladesh.”

Rashedul Islam, convener of the tournament, added: “We are happy to have held this colourful event. SPORTS SUST showed our university has no discrimination in sports; each and every student can participate in any kind of sports event. The female students participated in the event spontaneously and everybody supported them. In the end, we got to cheer for the 80 girls, who are now part of a new era in sports. In future, we will try to arrange more interesting events at SUST.”

Nafizaman Partha, general secretary of SPORTS SUST, thanked everyone for making the event a success. Zafar Iqbal, a popular writer and a professor at SUST, watched some of the matches as a guest and welcomed such types of activities.

The writer is a student of SUST.

Photos: SPORTS SUST