Rishi Garg, Captain of the Boys’ Football Team, provided some time in between his practice hours to speak to the BOSM English Press about the team’s preparation leading up to the fest. Football manages to draw a frenzied crowd every edition of BOSM as it is one of the most popular sports on campus, and Rishi believes that this year will be no different.
Rishi mentioned that they had conducted trials for the team in September and have started training since then. Until mid-September, the team was involved in planning the drills after which the coach arrived and started training the team. The team usually has around ten to twelve practice sessions of about four hours each per week. They have played two practice matches, one against Birla Public School (BPS) and the other against B.K. Birla Institute of Engineering and Technology (BKBIET).
On being asked about their potential rivals this BOSM, Rishi revealed that he did not know what teams were going to come due to a ‘communication gap between PCr, RecnAcc and the football team’. He claimed that PCr had cut down the number of participating teams due to accommodation restrictions, and he was yet to receive the updated list.
Rishi said that one major problem that they face is the lack of a permanent coach. The current coach was appointed approximately a month before BOSM and instilling discipline in the team prior to the coach’s arrival was a tough task.
Lastly, he spoke about the recent injury that had taken place when a player collided with the defender and dislocated his ankle. Rishi said that Ayaan Khan, a football team member, was in great pain while they waited for the ambulance to arrive, which took about half an hour. He claimed that the player needed immediate medical attention, which was not available since the medical centre had been closed for the day. He stated that the incident indicates how ill-equipped the Institute is to handle injuries. He stated that he has spoken to the Students’ Union about having an ambulance at the GymG but hasn’t seen any initiative yet.
Rishi said that he is drawn to football because it allows more room for creativity, requiring prompt solutions to be found constantly on the pitch itself. According to him, it is highly dynamic and requires collective and coordinated effort.
Looking back at BOSM 2019, Rishi said that it had been a successful edition for the football team. He recalled that the team had made it to the finals under the guidance of an A-licensed coach and had lost the finals to Hindu College, a sports quota team. Moving on to his expectations for this BOSM, he mentioned that realistically, reaching the semi finals would be a good target to have.
Speaking of his experience as captain, Rishi remarked that it has been quite frustrating. Unlike the team in BOSM 2019, which had a larger proportion of third and fourth year players, the team this time has mostly second and third year players who have to be trained from scratch.
He further mentioned that the coach pointed out Rishi’s tendency to often ‘take too much pressure’ during a game and to have ‘trust issues’ with some of his teammates, which negatively impacted his game. He said that he is actively working to improve the same.