Moms, Homemakers, Students and Gym Trainers: The Women Who Won India Its First Medal in Rugby

From the Clutches Of Society To a Bronze in the International Arena: Indian Women have come a Long Way

Rugby is more than a game of Strength, it is a game of Determination, Grit, Courage and Spirit. Who else has these qualities better then Moms and Homemakers.

These Moms, Students and Homemakers from different parts of the country assembled as the Avengers Of India to fight the Thanos of Poverty, the Evils of the Society and their surroundings to Take part in the four-team Asia Women's Division 1 Rugby XVs Championship in the Philippines.

It was barely a year since the Team was formed in 2018, as the Women went on to participate and win a Bronze defeating a higher-ranked Singapore 21-19 to announce their arrival on the scene.

The Team's youngest player Parvati Kisku, is 18, and its oldest, Sangeeta Beera, 34. Players have come from all over the Country- Orissa, West Bengal, Maharasht

ra, Bihar- bringing with them a flurry of local languages. Some of them didn't even know English to communicate with their South African coach Naas Botha.

But it didn't matter in the end said, Meerarani Hembram, the team’s fly-half who is one of five players from Odisha’s Santhal tribe. “What matters is that we come together and play for each other.”

Nasser Hussain, former captain of India’s national rugby team and managing director of the Indian Rugby Football Union (also known as Rugby India), said, “It was in the early 2000s, there was serious efforts to develop areach out to more people,” “Professional women’s rugby only started in 2009,“Since then, our promotions have been targeted equally towards men and women. All we want is more people playing the sport.”

“I was drawn to the sport the minute I saw it,” says Vahbiz Bharucha, the national women’s team captain who saw her first match in Pune in 2006, as part of Rugby India’s ‘Get into Rugby’ programme, an awareness initiative. She began playing three years later. “I loved that girls were literally tackling each other on the field, and laughing and hanging out outside of it,” she says. “It looked like a carnival.” she said speaking to The Print

Sumitra Nayak, half scrum of the team, responsible for scoring the winning point in the victory against Singapore, said she first saw the game in 2009, in school.

“I thought the whole thing was weird, I’d never seen an egg-shaped ball and people falling all over each other for it. But I was intrigued. And when I started playing, there was no going back.” she  recalled in an Interview

The women’s 15s team was only formed last year, and members of the winning squad selected through training camps held in Bhubaneshwar in April and June 2018.

News of their win travelled fast across social media, with Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and actor Amitabh Bachchan congratulating them on Twitter, but faded into oblivion just as quickly, overshadowed by news of the then ongoing cricket World Cup.

“The truth,” says vice-captain Neha Pardeshi, “is that rugby, especially women’s rugby, doesn’t get much attention. We’re used to it.”

“If I wasn’t playing rugby, I would have been married by now,” says Priya Baisla, 25, who plays outside centre. “I was going to get married in 2012, after finishing my 12th grade… The Jat-Gujjar community that I come from is very conservative. My parents always insisted on giving us an education, but when I started playing in 2011, I wasn’t even allowed to wear shorts. A lot has changed since then.”

Resisting her parents’ demands for marriage meant the risk of a fallout, but it was a risk Baisla was ready to take. “I decided to prove to them that rugby was worthwhile. I worked hard and, in 2013, was selected to be part of the national team,” she says. “I went on to become a referee. This calmed my parents down, though they still tell me that, ultimately, I will have to ‘settle down’.” she recalled in an Interview With Sports Eye

Sangeeta put her life at risk for the game. “I gave birth to my son three-and-a-half years ago,” she tells ThePrint. She ruled out a Caesarean section for fear it would impede her performance in the future, and insisted on a natural delivery — even though her child weighed 4 kg. “The doctors said it wasn’t possible, but I refused the surgery. Doing the operation meant a longer recovery time and possibly giving up rugby altogether. That wasn’t an option.”

After she gave birth to a healthy baby boy, she was back on the field in three months. The time she spends away from her son on account of national and international matches takes a toll, says Sangeeta, who also holds a job in Kolkata Police.

“It’s stressful being away from my child, especially when he’s unwell. I must manage my job in Kolkata Police, raising my child, taking care of my ageing parents and staying in the rugby team all at once,” she adds. “A lot of people used to judge me for leaving for tournaments. But I never cry for him. He’s always so proud to see me play.”

Playing alongside women who face the same level of judgement offers some respite: “We can always band together and encourage each other to ignore it and push forth,” says Vahbiz.