Our Sports Reporter
GUWAHATI: Baseball in Assam now is like a babbling baby. However, Assam Baseball Association president SN Singh (ADGP/APRO), in a discussion with The Sentinel, reveals that the game has prospects and future in the State. Here is the excerpt.
TS: What is the present scenario of baseball in Assam?
It’s a new game. Baseball was not a well-recognized game in our country. So the interest and the enthusiasm towards the game were not so encouraging. But the scenario has changed after baseball has been included in the next Olympics to be held in Japan. It has made a very positive impact in the game in India as well as our State.
TS: How the new generation taking the game in Assam !
It’s encouraging. After we took the charge of the association we had organized a camp to select players for the National School Games championship. We were surprised to see that hundreds of players participated in the camp. For the first time our team was able to win a bronze medal in the tournament. So from my experience I can say that we have talents in Assam and the game has a bright future here.
TS: Tell me about the responses you are getting from different district units.
It’s satisfactory. Several district units requested us to allot camps and we have already organized two such camps in two districts. One more camp is likely to be held at Hojai very soon.
TS: What about infrastructure...
It’s true that we don’t have any permanent infrastructure for this game in our state, but we are trying to have it. We don’t need a huge plot for this purpose. We have planned to meet Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in this regard, and will request him to take necessary steps. We are ready to accept the land even in rural areas also which is close to the main city.
TS: Share your plans to take the game to the next level.
Obviously, we need to work hard at the grassroots level. Steps are being taken to promote the game at school, college and university levels. At the same time, we will organize workshop time to time to increase the number of experts in the game in our state.
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