With BITS Premier League (BPL) having concluded, the English Press Club approached the Sports Council to understand their work in organising the event.
Avichal Khandelwal, the Sports Secretary, began by stating that BPL was meant to be an inclusive sporting experience for all participants, regardless of their expertise. The aim was to increase the interest and involvement of all students in sports. He said that the first step in planning BPL was to make a list of sports to be held, which closely resembled the list of sports held in BOSM, except for a few events that were infeasible. Swimming events were not conducted as they presented cost and timing issues. Boxing and taekwondo were also cut out from the list, which required certain security measures to be implemented as was done in BOSM, but couldn’t be applied to the comparatively smaller scale of BPL. The Sports Council also made sure to include niche sports such as squash and snooker in the list, which are not quite popular, but were still hosted so that the students who want to play get a chance to do so. Other than that, the Sports Council ensured smooth communication between everyone, and resolved all queries which were brought forward.
Jayaditya Singh, a Joint Sports Secretary (JSS), explained that BPL was decided to be held in April after the mid-semester exams. The event was conducted over five days, starting at 10 AM every day and ending at midnight. Scheduling was done keeping in mind the times when the Institute sports teams were free, the members of which were also serving as referees for BPL. The CoSSAc was also involved in organising BPL, comprising 4 departments. The Department of Controls, BOSM (BoCo), was responsible for creating the fixtures, making sure that all games and matches took place on time, and that there weren’t any clashes. They also distributed medals and certificates. The Department of Reception and Accommodation provided an inventory of various items such as tables and chairs, as per requirement. The Department of Publications and Correspondence set up the online registration via Google Forms to take entries for participation, and the Department of Sponsorship and Marketing, BOSM, brought in Red Bull as a sponsor.
This year marked the second edition of BPL, the first having been held in 2021. This edition was also the first BPL held after the COVID pandemic. Esha Shah, JSS, said that the long gap between the two editions made this a new experience for most people since no one other than the current 4th-year students had been a part of the BPL organised in 2021. Other new additions to the event included flexibility in the number of sports in which an individual could participate: one person could now register for three sports at most, compared to only one in the 2021 edition. She added that there were about 2200 participants this year, compared to 1500 from 2021.
Piyush Kedia, JSS, elaborated that the Sports Council, particularly the Joint Secretaries, had the task of compiling the rulebook, after consultation with the captains and vice-captains of all the sports teams and using the last edition’s rulebook as a reference. Certain changes were implemented as well. For example, in 2021 the cricket grounds were divided in half with a match being conducted in each half. This measure was taken due to the high number of participants owing to cricket’s popularity. This year however, there was no such division, and matches were conducted on the full grounds, with more matches taking place after sundown with the help of floodlights. Talking about the departments in the CoSSAc, Piyush mentioned that BoCo did a marvellous job, and their organisational competency was key to the success of BPL.
Cricket was extremely popular this year as well, with over 700 players and about 70 teams, which required the hiring of two umpires to oversee the matches. Esha added that the screening of an IPL match was also scheduled but wasn’t a big hit since it had to be shifted indoors due to rain.
Talking about prize money distribution, the Sports Council declared that the distribution system was similar to that of BOSM, taking into account the number of participants in a sport, costs incurred, and team sizes.
When asked about his own experience in organising BPL, Avichal stated that his job was to ensure a smooth experience for everyone, and he found that that was a learning experience, requiring a lot of delegation and communication. Jayaditya mentioned that he himself was a badminton player, and was responsible for managing a lot of participants in that game, and thus learned quite a bit about how to manage people. Esha felt that shouldering a lot of responsibilities and working together with members of the CoSSAc was going to be helpful in further collaborations such as BOSM. Piyush said that one of the best parts of his experience was talking to participants who said that BPL was a highlight event for them and it “made their semester” (sic).
On a final note, the Sports Council said that this year, a whole new ecosystem for sports has been set up on campus. They also stated that from next year on, apart from BOSM, the Annual Fresher Premier League will also be conducted for first-year students to be introduced to the sports culture at BITS. They will also get a chance to interact with like-minded people sharing common interests. They asserted that BPL will become an annual event, with more sports and fun activities giving an enhanced experience to all who take part, and expressed hope that the positive responses received this year shall only increase in the future.