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The Times of India, India
Sept 21 2014
Chennai college kicks violence with rugby
M Ramya,TNN
CHENNAI: What do you do when students turn violent? Nandanam
Government College of Arts and Sciences has lobbed a rugby ball at
them.
College students involved in street battles have been a routine in the
city, giving a headache to police and scare to citizens. Now, the
Nandanam college has joined hands with the Tamil Nadu Student and
Corporate Rugby Football Union to occupy the students in a sport that
is physical enough to channel their aggression and take their mind off
violence.
"The idea was to get students to work off their aggression on the
sports field rather than on each other," said former head of the
college T Pramananda Perumal, who has recently been transferred to
Presidency College as the principal.
Sports and mind coach C Krishna Prasad finds it a good idea. "A
physical sport like rugby helps youngsters channelise unrestrained
aggression in a healthy way. It also helps players to know their
potential and limits and respect and acknowledge that of others. They
develop empathy and an urge to share responsibilities," he said.
No wonder then that the administration of Nandanam Government Arts
College is thrilled at getting their students interested in rugby. For
years, the college has been struggling to get its students see eye to
eye with each other and students of other colleges. Batch after batch
of students has been engaged in mindless and relentless violence for
the smallest and even perceived slights.
Office bearers of the newly registered non-profit Rugby Football Union
said that a camp was conducted last week to select students for the
team. Around 180 students showed interest and from them 18 have been
shortlisted. They are set to undergo training under national players
Armenians Medrik Minassian and Armen Makarian.
At the end of the year, five or six students will be selected to form
a college team. Care has been taken to ensure that all the selected
students are in their first year and are likely to continue their
studies for another two years. "This is likely to be the first
government college in the state to have a rugby team," Perumal said.
The rugby union has decided to adopt the 15-minute touch rugby format
of the game in colleges and companies. This is a less intense format
of the game and does not involve tackling or kicks. President of the
union Ramalingam Muthukumar said the intention was to form mixed
teams, where both men and women would form teams together. The union
hopes to eventually popularize the game in the corporate world. "For
now, we are working with Nandanam College. We want to approach Queen
Mary's College for Women next to gauge their interest in the game. We
will also be approaching schools in the city," said Rugby Football
Union vice-president R S Senthilkumar.
Rugby is popular in Mumbai and Kolkata, and had a short spurt of
growth in Chennai around 2005. The union is making an effort to bring
the game back to the city, and is willing to sponsor players from
government colleges who show promise.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Chennai-college-kicks-violence-with-rugby/articleshow/43040070.cms
Sept 21 2014
Chennai college kicks violence with rugby
M Ramya,TNN
CHENNAI: What do you do when students turn violent? Nandanam
Government College of Arts and Sciences has lobbed a rugby ball at
them.
College students involved in street battles have been a routine in the
city, giving a headache to police and scare to citizens. Now, the
Nandanam college has joined hands with the Tamil Nadu Student and
Corporate Rugby Football Union to occupy the students in a sport that
is physical enough to channel their aggression and take their mind off
violence.
"The idea was to get students to work off their aggression on the
sports field rather than on each other," said former head of the
college T Pramananda Perumal, who has recently been transferred to
Presidency College as the principal.
Sports and mind coach C Krishna Prasad finds it a good idea. "A
physical sport like rugby helps youngsters channelise unrestrained
aggression in a healthy way. It also helps players to know their
potential and limits and respect and acknowledge that of others. They
develop empathy and an urge to share responsibilities," he said.
No wonder then that the administration of Nandanam Government Arts
College is thrilled at getting their students interested in rugby. For
years, the college has been struggling to get its students see eye to
eye with each other and students of other colleges. Batch after batch
of students has been engaged in mindless and relentless violence for
the smallest and even perceived slights.
Office bearers of the newly registered non-profit Rugby Football Union
said that a camp was conducted last week to select students for the
team. Around 180 students showed interest and from them 18 have been
shortlisted. They are set to undergo training under national players
Armenians Medrik Minassian and Armen Makarian.
At the end of the year, five or six students will be selected to form
a college team. Care has been taken to ensure that all the selected
students are in their first year and are likely to continue their
studies for another two years. "This is likely to be the first
government college in the state to have a rugby team," Perumal said.
The rugby union has decided to adopt the 15-minute touch rugby format
of the game in colleges and companies. This is a less intense format
of the game and does not involve tackling or kicks. President of the
union Ramalingam Muthukumar said the intention was to form mixed
teams, where both men and women would form teams together. The union
hopes to eventually popularize the game in the corporate world. "For
now, we are working with Nandanam College. We want to approach Queen
Mary's College for Women next to gauge their interest in the game. We
will also be approaching schools in the city," said Rugby Football
Union vice-president R S Senthilkumar.
Rugby is popular in Mumbai and Kolkata, and had a short spurt of
growth in Chennai around 2005. The union is making an effort to bring
the game back to the city, and is willing to sponsor players from
government colleges who show promise.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Chennai-college-kicks-violence-with-rugby/articleshow/43040070.cms