Priyan Mody, the Captain of the Skating Club, spoke with the BOSM English Press about the team’s preparation for BOSM and his contribution as the captain.

The Skating Club will be hosting two events for BOSM 2022—Roll Ball and Speed Skating. Speed Skating involves a 400m sprint race, which will be held in LTC, whereas Roll Ball is a ‘combination of handball and basketball on skates’. Since recruitments, Priyan has been teaching Roll Ball to the team for BOSM. 

Priyan started skating in his childhood and then went on to participate in several district and state-level competitions, including road and rink races. However, due to academic pressure, he had to take a break from competitive skating for a few years. Until last semester, when he got the opportunity to join the newly formed Skating Club and picked up where he left off. 

Their interactions with CoSSAc invited ‘mixed’ reactions since skating is still not officially recognised by the Sports Council. He added, ‘The CoSSAc is trying their best to support the sport, along with the PCr so that they register as many teams and academies as possible for the event.’ The Sports Council had helped them in setting up their camps, providing inventory, picking venues for skating events, and booking SAC for daily practice. With multiple national-level skating players in the team, he thought it would be ‘a waste of talent’ to deny them a proper platform by not recognising the sport officially.

Multiple national-level academies from Rajasthan have been contacted to play in the tournament, and a high level of competition is expected, according to Priyan. However, several colleges, including BITS Hyderabad, Lovely Professional University (LPU), and NIT Jalandhar, could not participate owing to examinations or clashing tournaments. Nevertheless, the team was excited to perform their best and gain valuable experience in their first tournament as the BITS skating team.

When asked about his experience as captain, Priyan replied that it had been great but challenging at the same time. Currently in his third year, his tedious academic schedule and sports barely left him with any breathing room. Apart from practising, managing inventory, supervising both boys’ and girls’ teams, and contacting academies and colleges for BOSM had been very hectic for him. 

As the conversation drew to a close, Priyan wished for the students to support and cheer for the skating team. He thanked them for turning up in large numbers for the camps, and added, ‘Try to spread awareness about the sport and its events and we hope to have an entertaining day for the crowds.’