Welcome to Sports@IITB … You are gonna love it !
The first time you will hear about sports will be during your Institute Orientation when you will be asked to fill out your preferences for NSO, NSS and NCC. There’s a whole page dedicated to NSO/NCC and NSS, but in short, as a part of your first year curriculum, you are expected to participate in either a sport (NSO), or the NCC or community service through NSS. Bear in mind that this is a “part of your curriculum” and thus, you will be graded on it (Pass or Not Pass).
Important: Know that there have been past cases of students receiving a Not Pass grade. Usually, you can avoid it by attending your sessions regularly and maintaining a good rapport with your instructor in charge.
The Sports Culture: Training Camps and Championships:Besides NSO, IITB offers beginner’s training camps (organized by Institute Sports Secretaries)in all sports for which you can register and get started. Notices for the camps are typically put up a week in advance. The camps consist of 8-10 sessions on a daily or weekly basis in which the basics of the game are taught. Seats are usually limited, so register at the earliest.
IIT Bombay has a history of healthy inter hostel rivalry. The Inter Hostel Sports General Championship is the biggest event in sports at the institute level. Although freshies are not part of the hostel teams, an all-freshie team is formed to compete against the hostel teams. Apart from this, Freshie Opens and Institute Opens are conducted in which you can participate. Intra hostel competitions are also organized for Cricket, Carrom Intra, TT Intra, Volleyball, Football, etc give an excellent opportunity to interact with your batchies and seniors.
Specifically for football-enthu junta, the Institute also organizes IFL(Institute Footer League) usually in the Spring Semester based on the lines of the EPL. Watch out! A special orientation is conducted for it.
Inter IIT Championship:It is The Holy Grail of every guy or girl who ever picked up a racquet, kicked a ball or scored three pointers, representing IITB in the Inter IIT Sports Meet is the Ultimate Honor. Held in December over a duration of 5-7 days in one of the IITs (This year, IIT Delhi), each of the 15 IITs arrive with their contingents and compete fiercely for the individual championships for each sport (Athletics, Aquatics, Badminton, Basketball, etc etc). Other than top three in individual sports, there is also the General Championship. IIT Bombay has been winning the General Championship for the past 3 years and a significant credit goes to the first year students who have been stepping up and filling the void created by passing out seniors. This year, the onus falls on you!
Selection trials for the teams are held for each sport around October - November. The selected players are a part of the Inter IIT Training Camp held from 1st December to the date of departure for the meet. Based on the performances during camp, the best possible team is chosen by the coaches and the captain. To make it to the team in the first year itself is a big achievement for a freshie (specially in recent years with IITB teams doing so well) so, give it your best shot!
Note: You need not have pursued NSO in a sport to go for the trials. For that matter, it is not necessary for you to choose NSO at all, to be in the Institute team.
Sports@Leisure: Apart from these “formal” coaching camps and classes, feel free to turn up on the sports field and play the way you like with or without your friends. Some timings are reserved for faculty and institute team practices and NSO classes. As IIT provides the state-of-art facilities, a lot of care has to be taken in maintenance. So, proper equipment and attire are must for playing. Specifically, in Badminton, Tennis and Squash, you must wear non-marking, gum sole shoes. You will find out details on more such requirements and where to get them in due time. You can issue squash balls, badminton shuttles and racquets on your I-card from the SAC office.
IITB has a Cricket Field, a Flood-lit Football field, a Hockey field, 6 tennis courts, a volleyball court, a newly built Olympic-size Swimming pool, 5 wooden Badminton courts, 2 basketball courts, an Institute Table Tennis room, 1 squash court, athletic track, 2 gymnasiums, 1 weightlifting room and much more.
Most hostels have a lounge which has a carrom table, table tennis table, a gymnasium maybe a fooseball table and a pool table. You can issue the gear for these from the watchman against your I-card. You will also find people playing cricket, football and volleyball in the fields between the wings. Get yourself out there with these guys! This is the best way to get to know your batchies and seniors. And don’t worry if you think you are not so good! Nobody is and nobody cares!
The Structure of Sports Council: The sports council is headed by the General Secretary Sports who coordinates the activities of all the Institute Secretaries (IS) of the various sports. The ISs are responsible for conducting events related to their sports at the institute level. At the hostel level, there is a Sports Councillor (or Sports co) who is supported in his activities by Hostel Sports Secretaries (Sports secy-s).
Some Miscellaneous Tips:Injuries: Injuries are a part and parcel of every sport. You should know is that every hostel has its First Aid Kit, which can be usually be taken from the Sports-secy of the hostel. In case of more serious injuries, you should go to the IITB Hospi (link here) and have it looked it.
Where to buy sporting equipment: All hostels have a stationary-cum-multi purpose shop. You can buy TT balls, shuttles, and other small equipment from these shops. The closest complete Sports shop called Extreme Sports is located in Hiranandani Galleria. The best place to buy your equipment is near Churchgate, Metro Theatre around which there are a large number of Sports shops. One of the most popular ones is Selection Sports. There are also sports shops in Andheri and Thane.
Well, that’s all you need to know about Sports@IITB. You are all set to become a part of the Sporting Community of IIT Bombay. We Wish You Loads of Fun and hope you have some of your Best Moments on the Fields!
[Credits to Raunak Khandelwal]
