Sporting enthusiasm was at its height in Salyakhedi, a remote forest village in Handia block of Harda district of Madhya Pradesh, as village girls and women stormed the local playground to participate in ‘Harda Girls Premier League’ – a first-of-its-kind amateur inter-village cricket tournament for rural girls and women.
Fifteen village level teams, including around 160 females in the age group of 13-25 years - from students to housewives and young mothers - are participating in the two-day 12-over (six for each side) tournament that started on Friday. The teams are from 15 villages in Handia and Rahatgarh blocks of Harda.
The unique tournament has been organised by NGO Synergy Sansthan under its ‘Yuvalaya’ project with the support of the community and government agencies like the state forest department.
Girls and women wore T-shirts sponsored by the organisers and were clad in jeans, leggings and even salwar suits. Some played wearing chappals as they did not have shoes, but the enthusiasm was at the peak.
“I am feeling proud that I was able to play well after just a short practice,” said Preeti Gond, a class 11 student from village Nayapura in Handia block who hit three fours.
Vandana Kakodia, 17 and a student of class 12, was happy to wear a T-shirt given by the organisers and was highly enthused. “I was somewhat scared during my bowling spell, but I enjoyed the batting. I don’t mind whether we lose or win, but the opportunity to play is great. Lack of resources did not allow us to pursue sports, but now even my family is very enthused about me playing.”
Vandana’s thoughts reflected the intention of the organisers. “This is the first time that an all-girls cricket tournament has been organised at village level. It is two-days of ultimate adventure for us. Such initiatives are important to break the barriers and give girls an opportunity to prove themselves and move forwards. Only equal participation of women can ensure proper progress of the district, state and the nation,” Vimal Jat, chief executive officer of Synergy Sansthan, told THE WEEK.
Jat also said that it was important to reduce the bias faced by girls in sports so that girls can develop natural affinity towards it and use their talent to carve a space for themselves.
The opportunity did come to a diverse section of women during the Salyakhedi tournament. Sheela, 24, a mother of two, from Shigon village said that till now they had only handled brooms and mogris (hand paddle used to wash clothes), but it was great to handle bat and bowl. “I purchased the bat and ball out of my savings and practised with the help of my brother. This is a big adventure for me and like a dream come true.”
Madhu, 17, of Dheki village, said, “I took time out of studies and housework to practise with my friends. I have loved cricket since childhood, but now the dream to play is being fulfilled. I know I have no future in cricket, but I am sure such events will encourage other rural girls to take up sports as career.”
About 800 villagers – women and men of all age groups - thronged to the ground to watch the matches, which was also streamed live on social media by some enthusiasts. Raju Kalam of Bhimpura, who came to watch his sister Mamta play, said that it was a proud moment for him and he would always support his sister to play. “Sports are very important for balanced development of individuals,” he said.
Organisers shared messages of gender parity and equal opportunities during commentary, making it more interesting.
Pinky Verma of Synergy Sansthan said that the organisation deputed a coach (local persons with playing experience) for each team and has sponsored cash prizes for the top three teams ( Rs 5,000 for winner, Rs 2,100 for runners-up and Rs 1,000 for third team), but the community pooled in for trophies and medals (for individual performers). Forest department helped in pitching up the tent and cleaning the playground, while others sponsored the refreshments. “The idea is to involve the community as much as possible, so that they could sustain such activities in the future,” Verma said.
Agriculture minister Kamal Patel, who hails from Harda, paid a visit to the venue to encourage the participants. He announced Rs 5,000 each prize money and sporting kits for every participating team. He announced that a sports stadium named after martyr Ilap Singh will be set up at Salyakhedi. Saying that girls were the future of the country and could become empowered only through education, he urged school dropouts to rejoin education mainstream and promised financial support for it.
Zilla panchayat officials Ramniwas Kaleshwar and Radheshyam Jat, Sanjay Dhaka of health department and officers from Handia police station Jitendra Rajput and Surendra Shrivastava also attended to encourage the players.