At 23, Kripa Oraon is a trailblazer. A rugby player herself, she has helped reach the sport to more and more girls in and around Saraswatipur, a small village in New Jalpaiguri.
Maidan: Kripa is one of the 30 girl community young leaders of Jungle Crows Foundation who eat, drink and sleep rugby and defy all odds to rewrite their own life stories and others’.
On Sunday morning, the girl gang proved they are not only good players but also good organisers as they held an under-14 Tag Rugby Festival to celebrate the UN’s International Day of the Girl Child (October 11) at Crow Field on the Maidan.
“From planning to execution, the girls did it all. This is the first time the tournament has been organised entirely by them,” said Nidhi Ghelani, project manager, Khelo Rugby – a sports-for-development project by Jungle Crows.
“We have proved that given the opportunity girls can do everything. I have organised tournaments in Saraswatipur before. So I was confident that I would be able to do it,” said Kripa, who has been playing rugby since 2013 when Khelo Rugby first reached her village. She was responsible for officiating all big matches, including the final.
Twenty teams comprising 280 girls from locations where Khelo Rugby has a presence took part in the competition. Two teams from Chingrihata – Chingrihata I and Chingrihata II – reached the final and Chingrihata I won 6-4 after a tough clash.
“I joined Khelo Rugby just eight months ago and I never imagined I would be a part of the champion side in such a short time. It was great fun,” said Ruma Mondal, a Class VI student of Sukantanagar Vidyaniketan, who dreams of playing rugby professionally and making her father, a rickshaw puller, proud.
Bikash Paswan, the Jungle Crows coach who trains the Chingrihata girls, sees “great potential” in Ruma. “She is a fast learner,” he said.
Paul Walsh, the founder of Jungle Crows, was excited to see “so many girls playing rugby and having fun”. “The Chingrihata girls were absolutely fantastic. It shows how much hard work they have put in,” he said.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta,India / Home> Calcutta / by Ayan Paul / Monday – October 23rd, 2017