MADIKERI: ‘Kail Podh’ festival in Kodagu is synonymous with a sports fest in the district. Following the ritualistic observation of the festival on September 3, numerous sports tournaments unfurl and enthrall sports enthusiasts. This year, in the first of its kind attempt, a cricket league will be hosted as part of the festivities and is being organized exclusively for women.
'Ours Club' – a women’s club established in Chettalli of Madikeri taluk – has taken the initiative of organizing a women's cricket tournament that has already recorded enthusiastic registrations.
“The club was established in 2010 with 13 members and we have been hosting small sports tournaments for women since then. However, a casual discussion this time ended up becoming a big plan with the instant support received from the club office bearers and members,” explained Shoba Chengappa, the founding president of the club.
She explained that she discussed her plan of organizing cricket with all the women enthusiasts in the district and the club was open to her suggestion.
The club has a total of 64 women members and each one has made personal donations and the women's cricket tournament will be organized on September 24 at Chettalli High School Grounds.
“Once we finalized the plan, we invited several other women’s clubs and a total of 16 teams have registered for the tourney. There are more who want to join but we have restricted the numbers this time as this is the first year,” she added.
However, once the tournament takes a successful start, the members are open to organizing the event annually. “Once this is successful, we plan to host the tournament in a bigger manner and it will likely be held for two to three days,” she said.