Hi Everyone,

Another year another Samaj Sports day. This year it was in Manchester hosted by Tameside branch. We managed to get a few entrants this year, but unfortunately it was only one pair of mixed doubles badminton players. To them I send my thanks for participating, to the rest of you, where were you?

Unfortunately we didn’t win any trophies this year, but next year, with a few more entries we might bring some back. In addition to our participants on the day, Bhavika and myself controlled the netball  instead our usual team of Anilbhai and his daughters.

This year the Youth Team allowed each branch to enter multiple teams and a number of extra players for each sport. Even though a few people thought this as unfair due to some branches having more players than others it turned out very well. It added the much need extra players for each sport, meant that more people attended and more importantly the participant numbers were much better, at a guess up 50% of what normally it would have been.

It was a very good day and overall very well organised, especially as the tournament was held over 3 different venues. Thankfully Tameside had organised a few shuttle buses to run between the venues so getting around wasn’t very difficult. As there were only a few of us from Luton we hitched a ride with Rugby Branch (thanks for the lift). The only downside of the day was the very early start, at 4am.

Next year I hope to see a higher participation rate from our members. I know quite a few our elders play badminton on a regular basis, come and represent our Samaj, there is an over 40’s categories. The more of you that take part, the better chance we have of bringing back a trophy.

Thanks, Arun.