Kidderpur School of Physical Culture, Kolkata, West Bengal (21 August, 2024)

Transcript:

My name is Sk Meherajuddin Ahmed, popularly known as Cheena Bhai. I am the boxing secretary and coach of Kidderpur School of Physical Culture. I started coaching here from 1985 when I myself was playing. Although Kidderpur School of Physical Culture started way before that in 1950. But it was not going well and stopped for sometime. I revived boxing in this club with the help of my father and my uncle in 1985. This field was used for practice. Many good boxers have come out of this club. Mohammed Ali Qamar, who secured commonwealth gold and got Arjuna and Dronacharya awards, is from this club. Many national and international level boxers like Mujtaba Kamal, Sunny Kumar Bhagat are from this club. I saw women’s boxing for the first time in Shimla. I thought that why shouldn’t we coach women for boxing? There were many women boxers from Delhi, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana. In 1998, I started Women’s boxing here. Our girls have played national and international levels. Many women started coming here, some wearing burkhas. People say muslim families do not allow the girls to do boxing wearing shorts. But that has not been much of a problem here. Many girls come here wearing burkhas after cooking and doing all their household chores. There are many boys and girls who come here and practice. Discipline is what I value the most and want my players to maintain. And studying is equally important. You cannot excel in life without proper education. We give prizes to those who secure first, second and third positions in school examinations.I give them sporting equipment and other gifts so that they are encouraged to do well in examinations. They can take leave for a month or two during their exams. I have been a national and international boxer and a national coach. When I used to play, my coach Alok Kundu helped and supported me a lot. It is because of him that I joined the Railways and represented it nationally and internationally. Indian Railways sent me to Cuba. Many girls come here from poor families. If we can give the girls proper coaching, guidance and support, many would emerge as good boxers from Bengal. If the government supports the women boxers properly, they will perform way better than the men.