youth | Orissa | Dr. Achyuta Samanta
[Think Sport] Orissa tribal students find success through rugby
Dharmesh Mistry is a contributing writer to Think Sport.
Amongst the host of education support offered to 10,000 tribal youth by the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) in Orissa, you also have the very English sport of Rugby. Played by both girls and boys, the school has really embraced the sport and has received recognition for their progress. While the students grow up in an area that is mostly isolated from the rest of the world, the rugby players are now well versed in traveling internationally to compete. As an article in The Week explains,
According to [founder Dr. Achyuta] Samanta, it all started when an English coach visited the school a few years ago and decided to train the kids to play this very boisterous, very Brit game. The kids succeeded big time, and soon were competent enough to get invited to compete internationally. Compete, they did, and came back with a trophy for under-14s! Since that early victory, they have been playing the game all over the world and now have an American coach.
We would love to hear about other sport for development initiatives working with tribal and rural communities.
3 Comments on “[Think Sport] Orissa tribal students find success through rugby”
Rugby is a great game!
I have seen these kids play the game when i visited KISS…they are very very good and undergo a very rigorous and professional training. The game has an amazing impact on the kids.The younger generation in the school has already taken up to that game.