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The recently held Dr. Emily Emanuel inter-school basketball tournament at St. Andrew's High School, Bowenpally, was a remarkably well-organised event. A. JOSEPH ANTONY reports.
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Hospitality was extended to all participating teams equally.
IF IT'S power to the people in a democracy, then it was prizes to the players at the Dr. Emily Emanuel inter-school basketball tournament at the St. Andrew's High School, Bowenpally, recently.
Every member of the winning and runner-up teams had his or her name superscripted on an envelope that contained the individual share of the side's total cash prize. Handsome were the winnings too, the victorious boys and girls teams' each taking in Rs. 6000 is something unheard of, even in senior events.
In times when professionals are cheated of their rightful due by avaricious officials, the gesture to ensure that the earnings reached their real beneficiaries was quite thoughtful of the organisers and hosts, St. Andrews High School. It's significance lay in the fact that the oldest student among the prize winners was still in Class X.
The conduct of the event could serve as an eye-opener for many, with not one unhappy soul, be it among the players, officials or organisers. In an age when the clamour for cricket and its players is reaching a crescendo, inviting Hari Krishna Prasad as the chief guest at the valedictory function was laudable.
The former Indian captain had been so fleet-footed in his days as forward, that defenders would often be left in his wake when his attacking forays took flight. Prasad's speech was short but a noteworthy point he made was his appreciation for the St. Andrew's management's attempts to promote basketball and football, which have few takers, otherwise.
Winners of the Dr. Emily Emanuel inter-school basketball tournament.
Actively associated with the event was another former Indian skipper and elder statesman of the sport, Mohd. Rizwan. Contributing equally to the tourney's success were G.M. Sampath Kumar, chairman, Technical Commission, Basketball Federation of India, and the Andhra Pradesh Basketball Association's (APBA) joint secretary, Norman Isaac.
Isaac's efforts were put in mostly behind the scenes. From drawing up schedules to deputing referees, from drafting press releases to helping out at the closing ceremony, this overworked State Bank of India manager and player was the vital link between the organisers and the State association. Also worthy of mention were the endeavours of the school's sports director, John Manoj and its basketball coach, Eugene George.
The support and seriousness extended by the hosts to the event were very much in evidence at the impressive drill and musical display to mark the closing of the championships. Much of the school staff was pressed into service for the little pageant, while hundreds of students and teachers watched the spectacle.
The staging of the finals during the school lunch break was, perhaps, the master stroke in the elaborate planning that went into the event. The corridors on every floor were full and the applause appreciative, after almost every basket scored. Hospitality was extended to every team, besides transport to and fro, apparently little things, but which go a long way in showing care and concern in a season of showers and downpours.
The prominence accorded to sports was in stark contrast to schools that break the backs of little ones, already overburdened with bulky bags and excessive academics. Often, schools crammed into commercial complexes, and overstress on studies run down the importance of sports as detrimental to education. The motive behind this can only be to cover up their inadequate playing fields and facilities for physical exercise.
The number of suicides by students, unable to cope with the pressure of exams and unhealthy competition, is on the rise. Parents are more to blame, their obsession for professional courses and careers reducing their children to nervous wrecks, if not freaks. Sports would thus serve as the perfect release from the strains that beset the very core of creativity, in the life of man.
Thomas Arnold, founding father of the immensely successful public school concept, saw sports as an essential ingredient in building up a student's character and personality. `All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,' is a commonadage.
Going back to the afore-mentioned tournament, St. Patrick's clinched the boy's crown, while St. Pius School emerged champion among the girls. Player of the tournament, Varun Dev of St. Patrick's, not only stood out in his 187-cm frame, but also for his whopping 46-point personal tally in the final against HAL School.
Tactically leading the Patricians to triumph was its soft-spoken and unassuming coach, B. Ravinder, a former national himself. Quite fittingly, he was chaired by his players after the championship trophy went to St. Patrick's.
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