Tribal village Siwatarai emerges as archery hub

RAIPUR: In the midst of forests, a tiny village in Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh has emerged as a hub of archers during the last eight years as it has produced more than 50 national players who have secured 122 odd medals in national and state level championships.

The archers of

Siwatarai village

have excelled in championships even without much professional training and facilities as they belong to traditional archery community where youngsters are exposed to the skill at early age.

A local archery coach

Itwari Raj

told TOI that both boys and girls, being from the archery community, pick up the skill very fast. "Now, I am giving training to the young generation in the discipline. At present more than 50 archers have carved a niche for themselves in archery. Some of them have proved that they can excel at national and state level".

Regarding the amenities, Itwari said "as of now, neither the state government nor the

Sports Authority Of India

(SAI) have provided any facilities at Siwatarai. If they provide necessary facilities, boys and girls from this village can produce more medals".

Despite severe lack of resources, Shiwatarai has produced many champions. In 2014 local district administration has decided to build an archery academy in the region and set-up a training campus with the help of youth and welfare department of the state. But, they have just built a boundary-wall in the school campus and no further development regarding the proposed day boarding and training centre till today.

Chhattisgarh Archery Association

Secretary Kailash Murarka told TOI "not only in Shiwatarai there are immense talented archers living in the state and with minimum facilities of their places the number of national level archers coming out forms the villages".

He said providing appropriate facilities with modern training will help boost the skill level of young archers. Archery is the traditional game of Chhattisgarh so if state government would help in infrastructure and equipment's than I hope that this kind of villages can soon produce the archers of international level and make the country proud by winning medals at global sporting events, he added.