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By Subhash Rajta
16-year-old Mandeep Kaur Sandhu is the first junior world boxing champion from her village. But it's almost certain that she won't be the last. There are 70-odd girls strengthening their punches and chasing the same dream at Chakar, about 70 km from Ludhiana. A dream two NRI brothers invested in with all their passion
Almost everyday, in the morning as well as late in the afternoon, around 300 boys and girls turn up at the Sher-e-Punjab academy for their lessons in boxing and football. When they are done in the evening, it’s time for the grown-ups to take the field, lit up by solar lights, to kick around after the day’s hard work for some fun and frolic.
“Everyone can play here, and almost everyone does. Sport has changed the way we live. Earlier, after sunset, people would have dinner and hit the bed with no source of recreation. Now, they look forward to the evening. And it’s not just men; women and elderly go out for a walk around the lake which we have built from a village pond,” says Amit Kumar, a footballer from the academy who represents Panjab University in inter-varsity competitions. “We are living an entirely new, more satisfying and happier life.”
It’s all thanks to two brothers from the village, Ajmer Singh Sidhu and Baldev Singh Sidhu. They had moved to England way back in 1967, before eventually settling down in Canada. Ajmer, the elder one, is no more.
“Both of us were involved in sports right from our childhood. When we moved to England, we got a chance to play football and formed a club. When I settled down in Canada, we formed a football club there too. Today, it has nine teams, both men and women, and has won several trophies at the national level,” says Baldev.
Having been exposed to the good life and sports activities abroad, the two brothers, whenever they came home, would feel dejected. “We didn’t like what was happening. The environment was pretty bad, there was a lot of viciousness and frustration, the village was notorious for its unbridled aggression, the youth was doing drugs… the situation was pretty bad,” he recalls.
“Having been involved in sports all our lives and knowing the good it could do to people, we thought of starting a sports academy here. We started out with 10 kids in 2006, with a lot of help and support from Prof Balwant Singh and SP Devender Singh. And today here we are, with about 300 children playing football, boxing and kabaddi, with one world champion and over 300 trophies in district, state, national and international levels in just nine years,” says Baldev, sounding happy and proud.
As is often the case, the Sidhu brothers didn’t make just a one-time donation to set up the academy and move on with their lives abroad. Even as there’s a seven-member committee to manage the affairs, Baldev continues to be the chairman and the sponsor of the academy and visits at least twice a year. “He won’t tell you how much money he has pumped into the academy; it runs into crores. He bears all the expenses of providing free training, kits, diet and even allowances to the trainees attending state or national camps or going out to participate in tournaments,” says a youth, not wanting to be named, attached with the academy.
Why does he do it? “I was born here, I played on this very ground… it gives me a lot of satisfaction and peace watching these kids play and become better human beings,” Baldev replies instantly, looking at the kids running around on the spic and span ground.
The girl power
One of the several unique aspects of the academy is the overwhelming participation of girls, so much so that they outnumber boys in a sport like boxing. Of the 120 trainees, 70 odd are girls, many of them as young as six. Wasn’t it difficult to get girls into a sport that was essentially the preserve of the boys? “We had no problems in sending Mandeep to the academy. Her brother used to go, and she just tagged along. We, and other parents as well, had no qualms about our girls taking up boxing,” says Daljeet Kaur, the junior world champion’s mother.
“Right from the start, our village was way ahead in terms of not discriminating on the basis of gender. The academy has just strengthened that sentiment. We train them together here, and make girls play football with boys. It makes them respect each other, makes them much more comfortable with each other. Having trained and played together, they don’t feel odd or uncomfortable with the other gender,” says Baldev.
Surinder Kaur, the women boxing coach, seconds his view. “The atmosphere is really good; there’s hardly any incident of eve-teasing. The girls stay at the academy till late in the evening, and go back without any fear. The parents, too, don’t get anxious if they reach home late; they know they are safe in the academy as well as outside,” she says.
An equally significant by-product of the village imbibing a sports culture is the youth keeping away from drugs. “In other villages, 70 per cent youth are into drugs, here 70 per cent are free from it,” claims Baldev.
“We see so many youngsters of our age doing drugs elsewhere. But here youngsters aren’t into it, the academy has given us a direction and a goal in life, and we spend all our time and energy in pursuing it,” says Amit Kumar.
Other lessons
It’s difficult to move from one end of the ground to the other without several kids touching your feet and others greeting you with folded hands. “Respect for elders and each other is a must here. Cleanliness is another thing we focus on. You won’t see a small piece of paper lying around in the academy,” says Harjinder, a youth attached with the academy. Besides, keeping the environment clean and green is also high on the agenda. “We’ve already planted some 30,000 trees around the village,” says Harjeet, pointing to the trees lined up on either side of the approach road to the academy.
The academy, commendably, has reached so far without any help from the government or any of its agencies. Right from setting up the academy, running it, providing kits and diet, employing coaches, the Sidhu brothers and their team did it all by themselves. But with players of the academy doing well at various platforms, the Sports Authority of India and the Punjab Sports Department have started taking notice and interest. The academy is in talks with the two bodies for some help.
“We want four coaches immediately. We are managing with just three right now and it’s difficult for them to handle so many kids. Besides, we would request the government to lease out an empty and worn-out building in the village; we will repair it and run a hostel there,” says Baldev. “Apart from that, all we want from the government is to recognise and reward the players winning laurels and give them jobs. We can get players only this far, it’s for the government to take care of them after that.”
That’s perhaps the least any government can do.
Junior world champion fixes target: Boxing gold in 2020 Olympics
Mandeep Kaur Sandhu is like most other sportspersons — reluctant and economical with words, at least with strangers, and immensely confident of her craft. Accustomed to train with friends and fight her bouts without the spotlight fixed firmly on her until now, she looks a tad uncomfortable with all eyes looking for her.
“She returned home to a rousing welcome from Taipei, where she won gold in the junior world boxing championship in the 52-kg category. She couldn’t understand what the fuss was all about. She thought she had won medals before too, so what was so different this time around,” says Parminder Kaur, her cousin.
The importance of the feat isn’t lost on her joint family, though. “The girl has made us proud, so many people are coming to congratulate us,” says her mother Daljeet Kaur.
Even as members of the family compete to dish out the details about its youngest child, the world champion quietly slips away to get ready for another training session. “She never misses one. She even skipped my engagement ceremony last year,” says Parminder.
The cousin recalls another incident highlighting her dedication to the sport. “She was 2-kg overweight for some competition a year back. It was peak summer time and she had just two days to get her weight right. She could have skipped it but in 40 degrees, she put on a double layer of clothing, a cap, and ran continuously for two days. All she had during those two days was lemonade. We got worried, but she wouldn’t listen. She did reduce her weight and participated in the tournament.”
She may have appeared a little reticent at home, but is articulate enough to tell her friends what she felt about being the world champ. “She told us we could beat anyone, we just need to train hard,” says Hardeep Kaur, a trainee.
And that’s the advice Mandeep needs to keep following herself too. “We want her to be ready to win gold in the 2020 Olympics. She just needs to keep her focus and continue training hard, the academy will take care of the rest,” says Surinder Kaur, her coach.