Nothing could be more appropriate on World Indigenous People’s Day than to honour the rising young tribal wave that has brought so many laurels to Jharkhand. On Friday, Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh felicitated promising young sportspersons, including wonder girl Bigan Soy.
The 20-year-old, whose first coach was her Maami (maternal aunt), was honoured with Rs 5 lakh for her heroics as goalkeeper of the junior Indian hockey team. “She would play with her Maami’s stick,” recalled her father fondly. “In fact, her name was also Bigan and we decided to name our daughter after her.” The proud Nara Soy and his wife lipi came all the way from Bandgaon village of Chaibasa.
Jharkhand, often called the cradle of sports like hockey and football, brings up its champions this way! The team won a bronze, defeating England at the Women’s Junior World Cup, 2013, in Mönchengladbach, Germany, on Sunday. Ordinary-looking Bigan did the extraordinary and stopped the crucial penalty shootout. “We are hopeful she will fare well in future too. She always came first in her class too,” said her beaming father, a marginal farmer who tried hard to speak in Hindi. Though he knows little about the sport, he did his best to encourage Bigan. A jubilant Bigan told The Pioneer, “I am feeling very happy. It was not expected but the effort was definitely there. I got support from all quarters and now want to play for India.”
Bigan has previously participated in U-21 and U-18 Asia Cup matches. Another team of champions, Yuwa India, who swum against the tide and secure third position in the Gasteiz Cup in Spain, got a cheque of Rs 21,000 for each of the 18 members. Other awards were in the fields of farming, education and art & crafts.