Proud Captain of the Indian Women Basketball team Raspreet Sidhu came online to share a few words with the students of Lovely Professional University on the 6th of September.
After a warm welcome to the live interactive session, talking about the pandemic times she mentioned that people should continue taking precautions despite unlock-down. Coming to a sports point of view she said that the situation is like a roller coaster ride because staying home and being physically active is not an easy thing and it requires motivation for the whole team to be active during this pandemic. She started a YouTube channel to help people stay motivated and healthy because all it takes is will power and a positive mentality to stay healthy during this COVID period.
Speaking about the journey from being a normal student to becoming the Captain of Indian Women Basketball Team in a span of 20 years, she played state level when she was 7th grade and also played for the nation when she was in her 10th grade which was certainly her dream. She said that she had a lot of support from her parents as well as her coach which helped her balance both academics and passion parallelly. Despite being a basketball player she is a Gold Medalist from Delhi University which again teaches us how to maintain the equilibrium.
She decided to play for India in that blue jersey when she was a kid and that is one of the main things that kept her going and motivated consistently. When questioned how risky was it to pursue your passion in a country like India where people are generally not supportive when it comes to sports, she answered that we as a country are growing big and representing a team and being identity is important. She likes to call sports as a life skill that can never be taught in confined rooms.
She mentioned that she has written few papers for certain magazines as well and currently she likes to write about children, how youth can stay active, developing an early healthy active regime can help youngsters to promote awareness.
Talking about the demonstration of how a champion is made in the field of sports, she mentioned her parents and especially how her dad helped her in being physically fit from the very start and never forced to choose some career path despite her interest. Every athlete’s journey is different according to the competition of that sport on a global level.
Message to the students – “Dream Big” has been her mantra from day one. And if someone can keep their dream alive and confident irrespective of any other reason, they can achieve anything. Concluding, she thanked everyone and especially Aashray Army for conducting the session.
