Cricketer-turned-rugby coach inspires students in erstwhile Khammam

B Raghu Naik, a cricketer turned rugby player and coach takes the sport to youngsters studying in schools and colleges in Khammam District

Khammam: Rugby union football or rugby originated in England in the first half of the 19th century is fast spreading in rural and urban areas in erstwhile Khammam district.

Thanks to Khammam District Rugby Association, its secretary B Raghu Naik who also acts as a coach and has been taking rugby, a minor sport in India, to youngsters studying in schools and colleges in the district.

The association has been organising training and awareness camps to create interest in sport among students. Students are being trained free of cost and many of the players played in state and national events as well as School Games Federation events.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Raghu Naik, a cricketer turned rugby player and coach, said the association started training girls and boys in rugby in 2020. Since the sport is new to the district focus is laid on making students aware of it.

Explaining why he chose to spread rugby in the district, the coach said rugby is fast-growing sport as many Indian sporting clubs are embracing it. As rugby is a fast game it requires physical as well as mental strength and helps students to maintain physical fitness.

Raghu Naik worked as a physical director in a gurukul for five years and quit the job to focus on rugby after being impressed with the efforts made by former IPS officer RS Praveen Kumar when he was secretary Telangana Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society to promote the sport.

Rugby suits tribal students the most because of their fitness levels and students are also keen to learn the sport. As many as 14, 000 students trained in the past few years. Nearly 200 players from the district played at state level and over a dozen played at national level events, he said.

In a year four camps would be organised with at least 70 students in each camp. It costs Rs 70, 000 to Rs 1 lakh to organise one camp and the association bears expenditure. Care is being taken to prepare players for district selections in under-14, U-15, U-18 and senior categories every year to send them to state and national events, he added.