The BOSM English Press sat with Aman Devnani, the Captain of the BITS Pilani handball team, to find out about the team’s preparation towards BOSM 2025. 

Aman described handball as a mix of football and basketball, wherein the players dribble the ball around the court and score goals in posts significantly smaller than those in football. There are seven players per team, including one keeper. There is no distinction of attack and defense for the other six players. The game has rolling subs, which means that there is no limit on the number of substitutions throughout the course of a match. 

The team practices for two hours a day in the evenings and wraps up by sunset due to the unavailability of adequate lighting at the handball court. He highlighted the lack of fitness and the laid back approach amongst students as a challenge in selecting and preparing the team. Nonetheless, the new recruits in the team were described as an accomplished set, including national-level and state-level players. He further spoke about the lack of maintenance of the court from the institute’s side, in the form of uncut grass, missing nets, and no ground markings.  

The team hopes to see participation from various institutions including Newton School, colleges at Delhi University, and the defending champion IIT BHU. As a closing remark, he urged the BITSians to take more interest in the game and show up for trials in even semesters. He called handball a fun sport for all and believes that it is easy to pick up for anyone.