Lakshmi Prabha smiles as she fingers out bars of chocolate to the small group scattered round the auditorium at Vidya Sagar, an organisation that works with individuals of incapacity, in Kotturpuram. The chairs have been pushed apart and coach Sathish Kumar is shifting about on his wheelchair, getting chalk traces marked on the picket ground, for a court docket.
The candy treats, laughter and chatter is a Saturday fixture for a small however growing community in Chennai that comes collectively to play boccia each week.
This Saturday, the treats are courtesy of Lakshmi’s latest victory at the eighth Boccia National Championship in Gwalior. She holds up her gold medal, which she received in the particular person class.
“This is a sport I can play comfortably from my wheelchair. I was thrilled to go to the Nationals and win,” she says. “I come here every week and have made many friends,” provides Lakshmi.
Lakshmi Prabha holds up her gold medal
| Photo Credit:
Thamodharan B
Boccia was first launched in 1984 at the Paralympics in New York as acompetitive sport and at current, is one amongst two sports activities in the world that doesn’t have an Olympic counterpart. The sport will be performed individually, as a pair, or as a crew and has classes for the identical. Over the previous few years, organisations working with individuals with disabilities throughout the nation, have taken up the reason behind this attention-grabbing sport.
Back in 2016, Rajiv Rajan, government director, Ektha (a disabled peoples’ organisation), and Sathish Kumar, the present boccia programme coordinator, each from Chennai, launched into a journey to make individuals with disabilities in the metropolis, conscious of the existence of this Paralympic sport. They believed that boccia can be a turning level for individuals who have been unable to do different actions independently.
“It was originally designed for people with cerebral palsy. At present however, persons with a wide range of disabilities who use wheelchairs, enjoy playing the sport,” Sathish says. “There is a lot of mind, and hand-and-eye coordination involved.”
Boccia apply organised by Ektha, takes place each week on Saturdays at Vidyasagar
| Photo Credit:
Thamodharan B
On the short-term court docket at Vidyasagar’s auditorium, 5 gamers organize themselves at one finish. Armed with pink and blue balls, the purpose is for them to throw the balls as shut as doable to a white ball on the ground. There are extended silences as every participant takes their time to purpose at the white ball, and loud cheers when the pink and blue balls inch near it.
A standard chorus, amongst gamers like Okay Dharmesh (a National-level athlete) is how they have been unaware of boccia or how it’s performed. This was one in every of the first issues that Ektha labored on addressing in 2016. “We had to popularise the sport. While we initially started off with spreading the word among persons with disabilities in Chennai, we also started conducting camps across Tamil Nadu, and other neighbouring states. We focus on special schools, to introduce boccia to children,” Rajiv says.
In Chennai, Ektha is the solely organisation that at present trains aspiring gamers, and has round 40 lively gamers. “I am sure there are at least 100 people in the city who will be interested, and can become great players with the right practice. We have introduced the game to around 1,000 wheelchair users in Tamil Nadu so far,” says Sathish. National-level video games, like the latest match in Gwalior sees a participation of round 100 or extra gamers from throughout India.
Over the years, a number of members from this growing community have received laurels. While there’s a State-level match that Ektha organises, gamers from Chennai like Lakshmi Prabha are an integral a part of National-level tournaments and have received trophies and medals many instances. The sport has now grow to be an essential a part of their lives.
Tariq Ansar, who was amongst the winners of the State-level boccia match final yr, jokes about how individuals at his office know of his schedule, and should not shocked any extra when he heads out of workplace early to make it to apply on Saturday.“When I initially heard of boccia, my parents were hesitant to even let me come for these training sessions as they hadn’t heard of the sport. Many wheelchair users like me, are eager to learn new things and this is a great opportunity,” he says, of the recognition that boccia has given him.
The community that performs boccia in Chennai additionally has a growing want listing. Rajiv says extra sports activities amenities in the metropolis should be accessible for individuals with disabilities. “The balls used to play boccia are not available in India and need to be imported. For persons who cannot use their hands, a specially built ramp is used which is very expensive. We do not have one and hence, aren’t able to practise with the same,” he says. Many of them journey lengthy distances to get to those coaching periods at Vidya Sagar. Accessible transport is one other fixed concern. All the coaching and participation in tournaments has been free thus far, and for some gamers, Ektha has additionally labored on reimbursing their journey prices to coaching periods.
M Selvam focusses to make the good shot
| Photo Credit:
Thamodharan B
There is one factor although that each one of them who play agree on, that the weekly coaching periods right here have launched them to a few of their closest mates. There are scorching samosas being handed round, after the coaching session is completed.
He provides, “Our goal from the start has been to bring out persons with disabilities who are confined to their homes, train them and give them the opportunity to participate in tournaments. While this has definitely been possible, the camaraderie is also something we are thankful for as well.”
