Rayagada: The Place You Know, The Story You Don’t

The tournament you know, the journey you don't. It is all about that day when Rayagada decided to have a new basketball court in their district and train young children to improve sports indulgent among youngsters.

Rayagada district in southern Odisha organised a tournament for the basketball players, popularly known as Rayagada Basketball League (RBL), which has been a massive success as there was no sports activity in the district for past 15-20 years. Also, there was a 3×3 tournament on the occasion of independence day. Not only the young boys of the region but the girl players are taking active participation and that too from different age groups.

As the court was developed with professional standards, the children of the district are showing interest in this sport. With self-raised fund and administration, 40 kids were provided with jerseys of their own on the inaugural day of the court.

The Team

For the first time basketball game was included in the "Chaiti" festivals' sports competition, and the sports competition kickstarted in Rayagada town with basketball tournament of 3 days.

Fiba referee Mr Rajnarayan Patro, A-panel and B-panel referees came to conduct the tournament which was a rare thing to witness. It has been an enormous success, and Rayagada basketball court went into the limelight since then. A brave step has been taken up by the Rayagada Basketball Team, to increase the awareness about the game among locals, they came up with an initiative to start a summer camp and teach basketball to some youngsters from different schools of the district.

The event was conducted by contacting the principal and sports teacher of the respective schools. Renowned coaches attended the camp. The administration expected not more than 25 new students for the field, but surprisingly 87 children showed up for the camp, and the response was overwhelming. The authorities conducted a summer league for the regularly practising players, which was done to test the skills of the players, the results were outstanding.

Media Coverage Of The Team & The Event

In the big event of All Odisha 46th Sub-Junior Basketball Championship, 2019, held in Cuttack became a big event for the Rayagada basketball team they grasped the title of runner ups in their first-ever tournament level competition.

This tournament was a kick start for the youngsters, and this will lead to many more new opportunities for the youngsters and their dreams. Rayagada Sadbhavna Sports Complex was inaugurated in May 2019 with the complete help of administration, the then collector Mr Guha Poonam Tapas Kumar along with many notable dignitaries like Mr Vishal Dev (Sports Secretary of Odisha), Mr N.Bhaskar Rao (Hon'ble Member of Parliament). It was a massive initiative for increasing sports presence in the district with table tennis, basketball court and tennis court, out of which basketball court has already started providing sweet fruits.

Rayagada BasketBall Team During The Competition

Praveen Achanta, a member, says, "We just came here as we wanted to fight for the first time despite all the struggles. Its the moment where Rayagada basketball team created history for the first time being the finalists and bagged the runner up trophy, there is much more to come. Rayagada Basketball Team is going to achieve more heights. Moreover, Basketball Summer camp paved the path for a huge interest of youngsters and children for engaging actively in this sport."

Additionally, March 5th 2020 marked an important day for Rayagada basketball team because Biju Janata Dal, Rayagada formed a committee as Biju Smruti Committee under which a sports week with interstate basketball, cricket, and volleyball tournament took place. It was done under the supervision of Member of Parliament Mr N. Bhaskar Rao.

Winners Of Biju Patnaik Basketball Tournament

Recently, Biju Patnaik Memorial inter District basketball tournament was organised from March 5th to March 8th. The event witnessed the competition amongst the top 8 basketball teams. It was a massive tournament where cash prizes and trophies along with medals were awarded to the winners and runner ups.

This step by Mr N. Bhaskar Rao was a bold step to take Rayagada's basketball to the next level.

#Odisha #Sports #IndiasBestKeptSecret #Basketball #Rayagada