Coimbatore: With an aim to introduce and popularise the traditional sport of 'Silambattam' and to physically train the tribal children, Sipambalaya Sports and Social Welfare Trust, a non-governmental organization kick-started its free coaching program at the Government Tribal Residential School in Anaikatti, on Thursday.
Coimbatore: With an aim to introduce and popularise the traditional sport of 'Silambattam' and to physically train the tribal children, Silambalayam Sports and Social Welfare Trust, a non-governmental organization kick-started its free coaching program at the Government Tribal Residential School in Anaikatti, on Thursday.
About 50 students joined the free training program which was inaugurated by the school Headmaster, Balachandran.
Speaking to Simplicity, P Selvakumar, the Founder and President of the Trust highlighted that traditional sports of late has been gaining huge popularity across Asian countries. He opined that though there is better awareness about the sport in towns and cities, especially across Tamil Nadu, tribals who have less exposure to the outside world are yet to reap the benefit of the sport.
"Unlike in cities, the tribal children have good physique. Their agility and strength is well suited for the game and exposure to sports would help them get associated with the outside world, as well," he opined. "Learning Silambattam would not only help the tribals physically and mentally, but will also bring them into mainstream society. The efforts taken by the Trust to introduce the sport to the tribals at the tribal school in Top slip near Pollachi, a year ago, was a resounding success," he added.
P Selvakumar recalled how tribal children who did not turn up daily at the school for several reasons, regularly attended the Silambattam Camp organised at the school just out of love for the sport. "Though there are still several hurdles to cross, the initial effort to introduce the sport to the students, encouraged the Trust to reach out to many more such tribal children," he enthused.
D Rajkumar, the Physical Education teacher said that most of the students who joined the camp were in the age group of 14 to 17 years. "They were very enthusiastic to join the camp and as a result, now there is such a huge turnout," he added.
Deepika, a Class 8 student who joined the camp said that though she had seen Silambattam earlier, there was no facility to train in it. "However, it is a great opportunity to learn the sports at the school itself now. We too can represent the sport at higher levels and also represent the country," she added.
"Though Silambattam is gaining popularity in countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia, the traditional sport is yet get its due recognition in India. However, many North Indian states are beginning to realise the potential and opportunities that Silambattam provides and hence have now evinced interest in the sport," notes P Selvakumar.
Silambattam Coach Ranjith Kumar, Trust Secretary Manikandan Prabhu, Joint Secretary Sreenivasan and Manager Mohan Raj also participated in the coaching program.