The sporting spirit

Sports do not build character but, rather, they reveal it: John Wooden

The Indian Army has some of the finest soldiers in the world who have selflessly shed their blood for the honour, integrity and defence of the motherland. But the Indian solider has also proved his mettle in the sports arena as well. In fact sports and adventure activities form a vital part of the training regimen in the Army which helps shape boys into men. The army exposes its Gentlemen Cadets and Recruits to all sports activities from the very beginning: from the academies and the regimental centres itself. At the unit level evening games and sports competitions are part of the daily routine. Regimental teams and units regularly undertake various expeditions especially in the areas of mountaineering, sailing, white-water rafting, cycling, etc. Besides, several individual soldiers and officers have won fame for the country by bagging medals at National and International sporting events. A testimony to this is the recently concluded Asiad Games in which Subedar Bajrang Lal Takhar of the Rajputana Rifles led the charge with a historic gold in rowing in the men's singles scull category. Subedar Vijay Kumar won the bronze in the 10 m air pistol category. Subedar Tarundeep Rai a 26-year-old Army man made history by winning Indian archery’s first-ever individual medal at the continental games. In the Commonwealth Games 2010 Army personnel bagged six gold, six silver and seven bronze medals for the country.

Historically for the army the standards were set by the legendary hockey centre-forward Major Dhyan Chand of the Punjab Regiment who won three Olympic gold medals for India. Or the first goalkeeper captain in the world, Captain (Hony) Shankar Laxman of the Maratha Light Infantry whom the Australian Hockey magazine Hockey Circle had said, "...for Lakshman, the ball was the size of a football. It was his afternoon of glory and fame." He had served as the goalkeeper of the Indian National team that played in the Olympics of 1956, 1960 and 1964. In the Olympics, the Indian National Team won two gold medals and one silver medal. Under his captaincy, the Indian team also won the gold in the 1966 Asian Games. In the time honoured traditions of the Indian Army the likes of Lt Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore have continued to live up to the legends set by our sporting legends. Col Rathore of the Grenadiers Regiment won the silver in the mens’ double trap event at the Athens Olympics in 2004. 

The Army Sports Control Board (ASCB) is the regulating body for all sportsmen in the Army and administers, promotes and controls sports for Army personnel.  ASCB was first formed in March 1919.  The Board is administered by officers from the Army Physical Training Corps.

ASCB conducts Army Sports Championships amongst Commands, besides selecting & training sportsmen to achieve excellence-thus producing medal winners at the Services, National and International level. It runs courses for the Army sportsmen at NIS, Patiala & Laxmibai National Institute of Physical Training.
 

Indian Army has a long standing tradition of fostering the spirit of adventure amongst all ranks and has been a role model for undertaking high risk adventure activities in wide ranging fields :

Motor Sports.  Winning the Raid-de-Himalaya event has become a habit since 2004.  In the preceding year it has won the overall trophy in both categories of four wheelers in many events across the country.

Land Yachting.  A trial land yachting expedition was successfully conducted in January 2010.

Yachting. The first Indian sailing expedition was conducted from Sep 1985 to Jan 1987 on the Yacht Trishna. That pioneering Expedition captured the imagination of the Nation and put India firmly on the ocean cruising map of the World. To commemorate this feat aTrishna Millennium expedition was conducted in 2000 by the Sappers. Maj Sandeep Kapur, was the Team Leader and Maj DS Grewal, was the Deputy Leader.  Major Sumit Kabthiyal and L/Nk AU Babu were the other permanent members of the team, who sailed the full distance in 117 days. Balance of the team comprised of Lt Poonam Joshi, a lady officer on her maiden voyage, Brig TPS Chowdhury, Col AP Singh, Maj PS Dhillon, Capt S Banerjee, Capt A Karunakaran, Capt PP Singh and Spr Isaak.

Mountaineering.  Col Narendra (Bull) Kumar led the Indian Army teams to scale nine of the world’s 13 peaks above 24,000 ft. Colonel Kumar was the first man in the world to cross the Siachen Glacier from the snout to its source. His expedition to the Glacier confirmed probing missions by the Pakistan Army which eventually led to Operation Meghdoot in 1984. Lt Col AS Cheema was another famed Mountaineer of the Indian Army. In recent years after its successful ascent of Mount Everest in 2001, Army summiteers have ascended Annapurna (8091 m) in 2002, Kanchenjunga (8586 m) in 2004, Mount Cho Oyu in 2006, Dhaulagiri in 2009. An exclusive women’s team ascended Everest in 2005.

White Water Rafting.  The Army has nodes at Vardang (Sikkim), Raiwala (Uttarakhand) Along (Arunachal Pradesh), Nimu and Leh (Ladakh) and Belgaum (Karnataka). Its rafters are ranked No 1 and have represented the country in World rafting championship.

Scuba Diving.  Nahan runs the Nodal centre, which conducts a six weeks course.  Professional courses such as clearance diving, ship diving & deep sea diving for  volunteers.

Aero Adventure Activities

Sky Diving.   A visage of the indomitable spirit of mankind are the free fall sky divers.  They make breathtaking vignettes against the backdrop of the azure skies. The Parachute Brigade manages the AANC (Sky Diving) at Agra & conducts skydiving demonstrations.

Para Sailing/Para Gliding.  Parasailing offers the thrill of floating freely in air.  AANC (Parasailing) at AOC Centre, Secunderabad has been established, for imparting ‘Method of Instruction Training’ to Army personnel. Army has established four training Nodes-one each at Shillong, Ahmednagar, Pithoragarh & Auli.

Paramotor Flying.   Army paramotor pilots have conducted a historic ‘Kashmir to Kanyakumari-Paramotor Expedition’ which has established several national records.  Army has two nodes for training ie AANC (Paramotor) at Agra and AANC (Paramotor) at Parachute Regimental Training Centre, Bangalore.

Microlight Flying & Powered Hang Gliding.  The dream and capability to fly like a bird is no more restricted to only a few people or pilots.

Hot Air Ballooning (HAB).  Ballooning symbolizes a feeling of ethereal peace & the thrill of floating through the skies.  Presently most Indian records are held by the Army HAB Team.   

Through its endeavours in the Sports and Adventure arenas, the Army continues to hold aloft its ideals for service before self which is the essence of true nation building. Given the wide ranging infrastructure and training facilities held by the Army, budding talents should join the Army to fulfill their aspirations and bring glory to the nation.

Rohit Singh is an Associate Fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi

Courtesy: The Indian Express, 15 January 2011