Ultimate Frisbee may not be a sport that you would play or even follow everyday, but it ceratinly isnt one to not pay attention to. The Indian Womens Ultimate team are on the verge of creating history by becoming the first group of players from the country to compete at the World Championships in London, later this year.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, the team’s skipper Megna Shankarnarayanan spoke about her beginnings, how she helps bridge cultural barriers within the team and much more.
Excerpts:
1.We have heard about kids taking up cricket, football, tennis etc. What then prompted you to take up ultimate frisbee and at what age did you decide to take the sport as a career option?
A:Growing up, I used to play Kho-Kho & Throw ball. I was also an active part of my school & college athleticteams. After college, I wanted to remain physically active but sadly found that a lot of my team mates did not want to play as they got busy with their jobs and families.
This was not the case with boys, my brother & his friends continue to play cricket & football in the local community grounds. So when I stumbled on the chance to play ‘Ultimate Frisbee’ with a group of men & women on the beach, I took it and there has been no looking back.I have been playing Ultimate for 6 years now…
2. When you started out the sport, which was the avenues you looked at as far as training facilities was concerned?
A:Ultimate Frisbee is easy to pick up, all you need is a disc and you are good to go. However when you start getting serious you need fields to practice on. In a place like Chennai, it is easy with the presence of the beach. However in other states there are not enough public spaces where we can play! There are no good grass fields.
Further, Ultimate is physically demanding and since some of our players do not have strong foundations in conditioning, strengthening & fitness, the community does face its share of injuries. But that’s the case with most sports in the country, which is thankfully changing. As a team we focus on fitness and strength training as well, and have a fitness coach from The Quad, Chennai, as part of our squad.
3.The Women’s team have players from different corners of the country, from different walks of life. As a captain, How do you ensure that each of them play as a united group and how has everybody tackled the cultural barriers?
A:The team has players from different parts of the country. There are players from Chennai, Pondicherry,Bangalore, Gandhi Nagar, Ahmedabad, Surat & Delhi. The entire team takes the effort to learn a few words from all languages. Further, some of our players who are bilingual act as translators for the coaching sessions.
Also, Ultimate as a sport in itself encourages diversity, so all our women come with the right attitude and mindset to blend together as a team in terms of skill, fitness, culture and attitude. That’s what makes this team special.
4.The present Indian team is looking at opportunities outside with regards to its funding. What do you think the UPAI can in order to ensure that the future generations do not need to worry about such issues and put their entire focus on the sport?
A:The Ultimate Players Association of India (UPAI) have been very supportive.They are doing all they can.We are facing a larger issue, that of belonging to a sport that most of the country is unaware of and being a women’s team. Cricket in spite of having a huge following in the country also faces the gender issue.A ‘cricket fan’ can rattle the names of men’s players but would struggle to name our women players!
So to answer you question, we are in fact working ALONG with the UPAI to fund all our teams to the world championships this year.The UPAI also has long term plans charted out to financially support all initiatives of Ultimate in this country.
5.How optimistic are you that you will get the required funds in order to go to London to participate in the Women’s Ultimate World Championships?
A:We have faith, we are half way there & do believe strongly that we will raise the required funds!
6.In future, how do you look to approach the government in order to get the required funding and facilities to compete at the international level?
A:For the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to recognise us, we need 15 different State federations and we are currently at 9. The UPAI is working on this with a timeline of December 2017. The primary motive is to have more players from different states and create a pool of players, who will be ready and raring to go. In terms of facilities, we are consistently working with local governments and organisations to help us secure training grounds and fields. This is an ongoing process and once we have recognition from the government, things should be a lot easier.
7.Finally, is there a message that you would like to give to the everybody who is reading this interview?
A:My team is a group of strong women, all leaders in their own right – often struggling with family & society at large to be on the field & represent their country.
Nima Geetha Ponappa convinced her family to break a Fixed Deposit put aside to finance her wedding so she can go and play the World Championship’s
Meena Kalappa who does not have a father and whose mother works at a garment factory, has graduated her class and works with a finance firm to support the education of her younger sister.
Maitry Acharya shyly says she will only marry someone that allows her to continue playing.Chiai Urugachi heads an NGO that uses Ultimate Frisbee as one of the tools to teach gender quality, respect, discipline & team work. She also employs to ensure that only those who are excelling in school & have completed their homework, get to play…
Nimisha whose father is a carpenter, is one of India’s first paid female Ultimate Frisbee Coaches – she teaches at the The Fountainhead School – Surat, helping her family with their finances & paying her way to training camps.
Our women work, take part-time jobs outside of college hours, hold baking sales to raise money for the journey to the World Championships. These are our stories, and I’m certain this echoes with many from this country. We have crossed several barriers to be here today, and all we need now is your support to cross the financial barrier.
We request you to dig deep and amplify the voice of our women players. Share our story, contribute to our campaign (www.ketto.org/firstever) and spread the word. Sending the #firstever team will be an achievement that will pave the way for more women to take up sport and chase their dreams. So let’s make it happen!
To raise funds for similar causes visit Ketto.org, a crowdfunding platform for social, personal and creative causes
