Government School games take Rugby to 9,000 feet in Lahaul
Government School games take Rugby to 9,000 feet in Lahaul
Tirlokinath- Lahaul, Sept 16,
Rugby set foot in the high-altitude terrain of Tirlokinath in Lahaul-Spiti, with children being introduced to the sport as Himachal Pradesh begins a new initiative of including rugby in its government-school games.
RAHP coach-cum-selector Navpeet Singh, who also serves as a coach of the Himachal Pradesh’s State rugby team, reached Government School Tirlokinath to conduct a rugby refresher course and identify promising players for Under-19 boys’ and girls’ teams.
The initiative is taking place alongside the ongoing school sports meet in the Lahaul region, in which around 150 children from 19 schools are participating. The current sports event is for boys, while the girls’ event is scheduled to be held on September 22.
The exercise assumes particular significance as the Himachal Pradesh Government has introduced rugby in the Under-19 category of its school games on a trial basis during the current academic session. Under the trial format, district-level rugby teams are being identified through trials, following which a State-level tournament is proposed to be organised in October.
For children in remote Lahaul, the programme provides an opportunity to encounter a sport that has traditionally had a limited presence in the region.
ADPEO Lahaul Vinod Kumar said the introduction of rugby in the school games was a welcome opportunity for students of the region. He said bringing specialised coaching and talent identification to a remote area such as Tirlokinath would give local students an opportunity to learn a new sport and compete at higher levels. He also appreciated the efforts to involve schools from across Lahaul and said the department would encourage greater participation of students in rugby and other sporting disciplines.
Also read: Rugby makes debut at Kinnaur district sports meet
Rugby at more than 9,000 feet
What makes the Tirlokinath initiative unusual is not simply the introduction of rugby, but the setting in which the talent hunt is taking place. Government records place Triloknath at approximately 2,760 metres, or more than 9,000 feet, above sea level. The village lies about 45 km from Keylong in the Chandra-Bhaga valley. While rugby is played across the world and high-altitude training is not unknown, taking grassroots school-level rugby coaching and talent identification to a remote Himalayan location at this elevation gives the initiative a distinctive character.
The exercise also comes at a potentially important time for Himachal’s school rugby programme. The School Games Federation of India has listed U-19 Rugby Boys and Girls in the 70th National School Games calendar, with the competition scheduled in Delhi from October 31 to November 5. For the children being identified in Lahaul, the journey that begins on a school ground in Tirlokinath could therefore lead to district, State and eventually national-level competition.
After this boys’ sports meet, and the girls’ event scheduled for September 22, attention will now turn to how much rugby talent can emerge from the remote schools of Lahaul, stated Dr Vikas Sood State president of the Rugby Association Himachal Pradesh.
About the Author
The HimachalScape Bureau comprises seasoned journalists from Himachal Pradesh with over 25 years of experience in leading media conglomerates such as The Times of India and United News of India. Known for their in-depth regional insights, the team brings credible, research-driven, and balanced reportage on Himachal’s socio-political and developmental landscape.
