*Trained over 200 girls, boys of Ramban for State, National competitions
Ranjit Thakur
JAMMU, Apr 3: A 32 year-old Sandeep Singh Chib, a Rehbar-e-Khel teacher, national level boxer, and coach is nurturing the raw talent of mountainous Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir with basic minimum equipment to make them champions.
Sandeep has been helping girls and boys in isolated villages in Ramban to achieve their dreams by offering them free training for the past three years. Sandeep Singh Chib, a native of Palli village in district Ramban, has trained over 200 aspiring boxers, 16 of whom have competed at the national level and won medals in state level competitions. One of the aspirants has also been selected for training in Sports Authority of India (SIA) at Kargil centre.
It is interesting to note that Sandeep has provided training to these young boys and girls using only basic equipment. “I worked as a Physical Education Teacher (ReK), getting a salary of Rs 4000 (now enhanced to Rs 6000), but my true passion lies in making a difference for the youth of Ramban district. I start my day early, with practice classes from 6 am to 8: 15 am at Higher Secondary School Ramban, where I train the local youth. I then travel for an hour to Palli Village, where I continue to teach and train students from 10 am to 4 pm in school. In the evening, I also coach aspiring boxers from 5:30 pm to 7:15 pm at Prayas Hemkrish Model High School in Govindpura.”
Sandeep Singh told Excelsior, “I am the only NIS qualified (Certificate Course) boxing coach at Ramban and star-2 technical official in boxing. I have covered many national level events as a technical official. Apart from that I have also done BPE, BPEd & MPEd.”
He said, “Currently I am coaching approximately 40 students, half of whom are young girls aged between 10 and 19 years. Initially, it was challenging to convince the parents to allow their daughters to pursue boxing. However, now a large number of girls are enthusiastically joining the sport and remain dedicated to their training even in severe weather conditions.”
“Since we lack a boxing arena or dedicated training space in Ramban, I have had to train boxers outside in empty lots, community centers, and school grounds with the bare minimum equipment. If we really want to improve our grassroots sporting system, we need a proper boxing ring and sports stadium with atleast basic facilities,” he continued.
“My goal is to prepare boxers for national and international competitions, but with only a few gloves and punching bags we got from administration did not solve the purpose.” he added further.
Samta Devi, a 19-year-old national level boxer, told Excelsior, “This journey has completely changed my life. I am the first female student who started training under Sundeep Singh Chib three years ago and broke the stereotype image in conservative society in this small town. So far I have represented in four National and four State level competitions including several University and Inter college tournaments and won many medals.”
“We can compete with anyone in talent, but due to a lack of equipment, we are still far behind in exposure. Many find it strange, but we train ourselves without the use of a boxing ring or appropriate equipment in harsh conditions. The Government should build a Sports Stadium in Ramban to give us access to adequate equipment so that we can compete effectively.” she added.
Another national level boxer, Shruti said, “It is unfortunate that we have no playground in Ramban or boxing ring dedicated to sports that forces us to practice in one school ground or the other. I have represented in two National level events and four State level competitions and won four medals including three gold and one silver medal. Only because of the boxing coach’s committed training, girls in Ramban are becoming excellent boxers; however, in order to compete at the national level, we also require the right gear.”
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