Rakesh, P.O Box: 18–19, Memory Lane, NIT-Trichy
An insider’s view into the prestigious basketball team.
Growing up in India, we were all exposed to basketball merely as a cinematic sport, and watched inspiring and heartfelt movies about the game. It’s 2019 now, and the game has become a major part of our lives. We can find little kids trying to bounce balls on pavements, courts, the floors of their homes, or just any hard surface they can find, hoping to become the next Stephen Curry, maybe even the next LeBron James. Naturally, NIT Trichy, with intense competition involved in everything that goes down here, has adapted and encouraged the sport, building a culture like no other. The college team is unrivaled, or as the captain of the girls’ basketball team, Sunanda Seshan, puts it,
“Since my first year, we have always been winning girls basketball. I always treasure that.”
Besides being exceptional, the basketball culture in NIT Trichy is also one of the most inclusive. Sportsfete provides for the inexperienced a platform, for students to play for their departments and gives them a chance to launch themselves into the limelight, hopefully under the eye of scouts from the college team.
“I was taken into the team by my department seniors who happened to be in the team. I had a fortunate chance to play with them and win in my first year”, says Rakesh Siva, captain of the Boys’ Basketball Team, 2018–19.
At the end of the day, the players all complement each other, and they get better alongside each other, on the field. Competition provides for improvement, and the team is all that matters in the end.
The college basketball team is closely knit, and they make sure to celebrate that unity. And there are quite a few rituals that enable to do exactly that. Prasanna, Basketball Boys’ Captain, 2019–20, lets us take a peek at a few:
“After every practice session, we line up in front of our coach, and clap in a pattern. We then yell ‘I love this game, Basketball’ in unison.”
Even during their pregame warm-up board taps, if you listen closely, you can hear the players chanting “win” in unison every time the ball hits the board.
These rituals might seem trivial to the average person, but go a long way in keeping their spirits high, says Prasanna.
“There was always someone to look up to in the team — seniors, batch mates, even juniors. So no one could slack off, we had to fight for our place in the team. That brought the mindset to keep pushing ourselves to get better,” says Rakesh, the ex-captain.
And pushing ourselves to get better, is what Sportsfete is all about. It provides an opportunity to put ourselves out there, to push ourselves. To find chaos in the order.
Signing off with a message from the ex-captain.
“We were fortunate enough to retain the Inter-NIT championship this year, thanks to the hard work of our team and our coach, enduring the adversities we faced during the course of the year. It is going to be the hardest it has ever been to repeat what we have done so far.
You guys have worked really hard to get where you’re at now, and I’m confident that you’ll exceed expectations.
I urge you guys to put in the work, not take any shortcuts and the trophy(or trophies rather) will eventually find its way home.
The ultimate point is to leave behind a better team than the one you came into. And I would proudly say, we did that.”
