The Mecca of Sports for every sportsperson at the IITs, the Inter IIT Sports Meet is the biggest inter-collegiate tournament in the country in sheer scale. It is an eight-day long affair held in December every year, where students from all 16 IITs battle it out for the coveted General Championship Trophy. All the able IITs take turns hosting the meet.
The 50th Inter IIT Sports Meet is to be held in three phases – the Aquatics Meet from 30th September to 4th October, the main Students Meet from 12th to 19th December and the Staff Meet from 22nd to 26th December, and IIT Bombay is all set for hosting the grand event. With work for the Golden Jubilee in full swing, we bring to you updates on all the work that has already gone into preparing for the meet, and details about everything planned here on.
The Hosting Committee
The Inter IIT 2014 organizing body has a very well defined administrative structure. The Organising committee is headed by the Director, and there are a number of faculty members involved in the hierarchy- at the bottom of which is the Inter IIT student team.There are 3 Overall Coordinators, two handling sports, and one handling the administrative aspect of the event. The General Secretary of Sports Affairs acts as the main link between these OCs and the authorities. The team has further been divided into specific departments – with each department being assigned its own Managers (who are chiefly responsiblefor execution) and Faculty Advisors.
Execution
Given that hosting the Inter IIT is a huge honour for any IIT, there is influence from the Main Building in all major decisions regarding the events, thus limiting the extent of freedom enjoyed by the student organizers.Unlike other institute bodies like MI, TF and E-Cell, the students have strictly recommendatory powers and the final approval for decisions comes through the FacAds. The Inter IIT team was selected after a rigorous interview process, much like any other IB, and consists of students who have shown considerable leadership traits elsewhere.
“Given that hosting the InterIIT is a huge honour for any IIT, there is influence from the Main Building in all major decisions regarding the events, thus limiting the extent of freedom enjoyed by the student organizers”.
Now that the Inter IIT Meet itself is at hand, the team will face a unique predicament in being able to attract volunteers for the event, given that there is no incentive that they can offer those that are involved with the event this year, in contrast to the clear, demarcated raise in hierarchy that other IBs promise volunteers in exchange for their efforts. It is thus that the team plans to capitalize on the “Sports-senti” factor that pervades a significant subsection of the student populace.
Events
A Board Meet, co-chaired by the Director and the Dean of Student Affairs, was conducted by IIT Bombay in the first week of August in which two Sports Officers and the General Secretary of Sports from all the 16 IITs reviewed the rules and number of events to be conducted at the Sports Meet. This semester has also seen regular informal events such as screening of movies and matches being conducted by the Inter IIT team at regular intervals. The Sports Mela was held on 29th August to celebrate the National Sports Day. Also, the first-ever contingent meet was organized successfully with inspiring talks from sports officers and the Dean SA. The special person of honour Dr.Madhavan, a retired professor of IIT-Bombay, who was also a member of the first ever IIT Bombay Basketball team in 1961, reminisced about his experiences to motivate the IITB contingent.
“For IIT Bombay, this Inter IIT Sports meet is more than just a sports competition. It is that one event in which other IITs will challenge the prestige of our Institute, and where we fend them off with the clichéd blood, sweat and tears.”
Food, Travel & Accommodation
Accommodation is indeed one of the biggest challenges faced by the Institute for hosting the event. With 16 IITs participating (each with an upper cap of 162 students), the total space required is nearly equivalent to that taken up by 1st, 2nd and 3rd year UG populations on campus combined. While girls are expected to be given accommodation in apartments within the campus, NITIE and MTNL guesthouses will be used for accommodating the male population in addition to Hostels 15and 16.
Food is another major issue since the Student Meet followedby the Staff Meet will last for approximately two weeks during which a centralized mess will have to cater to such a large population. Even now, for team practices during the semester, it has been proposed that the messing time and place be shifted to a common mess with extended mess timings at no extra cost, since practices often clash with the usual dinner timings.
Sports Infrastructure
This year will see a number newly constructed sports facilities being utilized for hosting the events. A two storied building measuring 55,000 sq. ft area in front of H11 will house three Squash courts and a Table Tennis hall on the ground floor, three Badminton courts on the first floor, a full-fledged Gymnasium, a viewing galleryand a pavilion on the second floor. The SAC phase 2 being built opposite H3, measuring 42,000 sq. ft., will boast of three Volleyball courts, two Basketball courts and three indoor Cricket pitches. Apart from the construction of these new structures, almost the entire existing sports infrastructure will be renovated. The Gymkhana Grounds have been revamped, to provide a better playing surface for athletics and field sports like Football, Hockey and Cricket. The old tennis and basketball courts will be replaced by new surface and the surface of the badminton courts will be replaced by new, imported mats. The lights of tennis courts, football field, basketball courts and badminton courts will also be replaced. On a side note, there is no truth behind the rumours of a cricket stadium being built behind H13.
Let the Games Begin
The first phase of the sports meet – Aquatics, was conducted from 1st to 4th October. The opening ceremony for the event was held on 30th September, with Indian swimmer Virdhawal Khade, an Olympics and Asian Games champion as its chief guest. This was followed by water polo, 6 swimming events for men and 5 swimming events for women. Several records were broken over the 4 day period which eventually saw IIT Roorkee and Madras emerged as swimming champions in the Women’s and Men’s category respectively.
For IIT Bombay, this Inter IIT Sports meet is more than just a sports competition. It is that one event in which other IITs will challenge the prestige of our Institute, and where we fend them off with the clichéd blood, sweat and tears. As the Inter IIT wave passes, we shall have international standard infrastructural facilities for all sports enriching the institute’s infrastructure and ensuring a better experience for all in the institute. Insight wishes the contingent all the best and looks forward to covering some winning numbers!
This article is the joint team work of Abhishek Gore, Anant Kekre, Anukriti Chaudhari, Ashwin Kanhere, Jivraj Karwa, Palka Puri,Pranav Prakash Srivastava, Pratyarth Rao, Shardul Vaidya, Shreya Gupta and Tejas Gawande . Image Copyright and credits :Utkarsh Raut, 5th Year, Mechanical Engineering Dual Degree student
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