Overview
With less than a month to go for BOSM, Gym-G has been abuzz with practice sessions by various sports teams. The basketball court, which is the center of attention during the fest, bears an atmosphere of seriousness from its athletes, sans an enthusiastic crowd. Mitali Jain, the captain of the Girls’ Basketball Team and a third year student, leads her team into the court after a warm-up jog on the track.
The team started their daily practice early in the semester from the 7th of August. The team practices for two hours every evening from 5:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. The team intends on holding morning sessions under the training of a professional coach shortly. Praveen Bharadwaj, who has been the coach for the last two years is expected to train the team this year as well. The senior players speculate LNIP and IIT Delhi to pose tough competition in the tournament.
Regularity and discipline is the key value that is sought after in players. The team has been facing some issues lately. A couple of senior players have lab classes in the evening that compels them to miss practice sessions often. The floodlights in the court are currently malfunctioning which limits the duration of their sessions. Funds for the coach are provided only for a duration of three weeks before BOSM.
Past Performance
In both the 2014 and 2015 editions of BOSM, the team had won the bronze medal. Although the team could have fared better in BOSM, their performance in outstation competitions has been excellent. In the captain’s first year, the team had won a silver in the basketball tournament held in NLU Delhi. They have also won gold in IIT Roorkee’s sports festival, Sangram.
Recruitments
The seniors seem extremely pleased with the quality of recruits this semester and have labeled the current batch as the best they have seen in years. One aspect in which the team has an edge this year is that they have recruited M.E. students and one Ph.D student. Moreover, the first year batch is well experienced and has one national level and two state level players.
Despite the amount of talent that new-comers might possess, the ultimate factor that decides one’s entry into the team is the discipline and regularity one exhibits in the practice session. Generally, for every batch, each player is as skilled as the other. However, it is the discipline of each player that determines the development of the team as a whole.
Captain’s Interview
With BOSM fast approaching, every team on campus is busy in training to reach their best form. Mitali Jain, a third year B. Pharmacy student, is the captain of the BITS Girls’ Basketball team. In a recent interview with the team, she talked about her experiences in the sport.
Mitali hails from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, and has been playing basketball for the last six years. Her exposure to basketball did not come out of her own will. “As a kid, I preferred to stay at home and my father forced me to go out and play. Gradually, I started becoming fond of the game”, she said. Later, when her father would ask her not to play basketball (for academic reasons), she would proudly refuse. She mentions Steph Curry as her primary inspiration.
She was the captain of the team last semester too. “It was easier to handle everyone then as there were no new kids”, she said. This semester, however, she’s had a difficult time with the new recruits. A major responsibility of hers is to convince the recruits to show up for the daily practices. “I have to explain to them that their academics won’t get affected and they won’t be tired after playing”, she said.
When asked how she manages sports and academics before BOSM, one of her teammates was quick in replying – I don’t. After a bout of laughter, she went on to explain that she views practice as good utilization of time, which she would have otherwise spent on irrelevant things. Enquiring about her personal achievements, she modestly placed the team before herself and listed the team’s victories in previous years. It is evident that the next couple of weeks are going to be challenging for the team. One hopes that their efforts pay off.