CHENNAI: While sports call for teamwork, it is also the individuals who push the boundaries of the game. Cycle polo, which traces its origin to horse polo, is no different. While the game is not so familiar in the sporting arena in Tamil Nadu, the Coimbatore district cycle polo team led by coach and secretary Arun G is making great strides.“Horse polo used to be a game for the rich but cycle polo can be a poor peoples’ game,” says Arun, adding that the game is currently managed by the Cycle Polo Federation of India.
Around 25 players from Coimbatore represent the state every year. From being a player to being a coach it has been a whirlwind journey for Arun in cycle polo. Arun began his sporting journey as a volleyball player. It was during his high school days that he started practising cycle polo.
“I began my journey in cycle polo through my coach Ramesh Kumar, who is currently the president of the Tamil Nadu Cycle Polo Association.” Inspired by his school coach and intrigued by the sport, Arun became a full-time cycle polo player.
Familiarising a lesser-known sport in a nation where games like cricket and hockey are idolised and stand on an equal footing next to cinema is a herculean task, says Arun. Post his graduation, Arun worked as a physical education teacher in a private school in Chennai, where he built his first cycle polo team. “Even our education system is supportive of familiar sports only. Interested students stayed after school hours to practise cycle polo,” says Arun.
When the sub-junior category was introduced in cycle polo in 2004, Tamil Nadu state team assisted by Arun bagged the runners-up spot in the first-ever nationals. It is not often the characters that write the story, it is the story that drives the characters, with its twists and turns. A similar turn of events awaited Arun after the nationals. He secured a job in the Railways and had to move to Coimbatore.
Arun is now a train manager with the Southern Railway. “Despite being far away from the sport, I was always looking for a way to be involved in it,” says Arun. After a decade of wilderness, in 2016 he got a chance to build a cycle polo team at VLB Janaki Ammal School in Coimbatore. He also took over as secretary of Coimbatore District Cycle Polo Association.
The number of Coimbatore district players in the state team has gradually increased since 2016. More than 25 players are representing the state men’s and women’s teams in the nationals. Arun says majority of the players are government school students from poor backgrounds. Sathya, a third-year college student from Coimbatore, is representing the state team in the Federation Cup says, “My parents are daily wage workers and I am proud to represent my state in a sport.”
Jagadeeswaran, who is an assistant coach with the team, is the son of a construction worker. “I have rarely travelled anywhere outside. Now I have played in four nationals and my brother has also started playing.”
Sathya and Jagadeeswaran say it took a lot of time for them to convince their parents. But they eventually agreed and supported it. The players were able to secure college admissions through sports quota. Sathya is a commerce student in a government arts college.
“One student from Coimbatore joined medicine in Ariyalur government college. Two students joined engineering,” says Arun. There is no dedicated infrastructure for cycle polo. “The state association and president Ramesh Kumar are working to popularise the game with limited resources. The state and central governments should invest in creating cycle polo infrastructure in all districts and take steps to include the game for sports quota admission,” adds Arun.