Assam eyes baseball at grassroots


The Assam senior girls baseball team at Cuttack. File picture

Guwahati, Dec. 9: The Assam Baseball Association is eyeing the grassroots to promote baseball — considered by some as the American version of cricket — in the state.
“We have introduced the game, which is similar to cricket, in two city schools — Delhi Public School and National Public School — to start with. We plan to promote the sport in two other schools here — Sarla Birla Gyanjyoti and Hindustani Kendriya Vidyalaya — as well,” Ashma Begum, the secretary of the association, told The Telegraph.
“We will be holding a training camp in the oil township of Duliajan in February, for which we have had discussions with Oil India Ltd. Physical instructors of schools from across the state will be trained by coaches from the across the country at the camp. This will help spread the game at the grassroots level,” she said.
The association is optimistic about the state excelling at the national level, even as the junior boys’ and girls’ teams returned to the city from Calcutta on Tuesday without a win in their kitty. Thirty-two players, 16 each in the boys and girls’ squads respectively, took part in an under-17 national meet in the Bengal capital from December 1 to 5.
Apart from the walkover against Orissa, the boys lost their matches against Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand while the girls lost to Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The state association, formed in November last year, however, is hopeful that the younger generation would take up the game in the right earnest.
“In about a year’s time, the state has taken part in four national meets and already made a mark in two of them. The girls’ team sprung a pleasant surprise by reaching the quarter-finals at the senior nationals in Cuttack in January. We had clinched third position at the East Zone championship in the city last April, which augurs well for the game,” Ashma, a former state hockey player, added.
The state team primarily comprises players from Delhi Public School.
“We have left no stone unturned in promoting the game in DPS. The authorities have provided the requisite infrastructure and even installed floodlights for the students to practise after class,” Bibek Acharya, sports teacher of DPS and coach of the Assam baseball team, said.
“The future of baseball in the state looks bright given the performance of the state team at national meets. We have been allotted space at Nehru Stadium for training. However, we intend to use the facilities at the Sarusajai stadium soon,” Acharya said.
Asked about the cost involved in the game, he said baseball, like cricket, requires funds. “A player has to shell out a whopping Rs 50,000 for a kit bag. Hence, sponsorship, be it corporate or government, will play a key factor in how the sport takes shape here,” Acharya said.

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