Manipur’s home run

With help coming from America’s apex body for baseball, the state’s all set to play, and ‘gearing’ up in earnest too

IN a city where sunrise is a little past 4 am, Tina Aribam and her teammates wait for mid-morning before hitting the local grounds for baseball practice. The reason: the Manipur Amateur Baseball Association has only eight balls, and morning dew will damage them.

There are also only eight gloves, one bat, no helmets, the uniforms bought second-hand at the local flea market, and the plight of the funds-challenged 220-odd baseball enthusiasts is evident. But all that looks set to change as Major League Baseball (MLB) International — the multi-million dollar apex body for baseball in the US — is all set to come down with top coaches for a 10-day intensive camp in November. And here comes the icing on the cake — loads of baseball equipment from international sports goods maker Spalding.

While Rick Dell, coordinator of game development in Asia & the Pacific for MLB, insists baseball isn’t trying to compete with cricket, the agenda couldn’t be more clear. For starts, Manipur is a sports-intensive state and cricket isn’t so hot here. ‘‘We’ve been to India on two previous occasions, and toured the major cities to hold clinics. On my first visit in 2003, I saw that every available free space was being used to play cricket. Back then, I didn’t even know Manipur existed,’’ Dell told The Sunday Express from New York. This time, says Dell, the MLB Envoy programme — which has touched two countries around the world since 1991 — is looking mainly at coaching coaches when in Manipur.

‘‘This 10-day camp is going to be our longest in India. While the first day will be open to all, including players, the remainder will be divided between basic and slightly advanced camps for coaches. After Manipur, we’ll be heading to major Indian cities.’’

IF you’re wondering why MLB is suddenly and vastly interested in Manipur, the answer lies in the efforts of Manipuri-American Somi Roy and his project, ‘First Pitch’. Roy, who moved to Stateside a little over a couple of decades ago, says his endeavour to introduce the game in this sports-heavy state is about ‘‘baseball diplomacy’’. ‘‘Exchange of culture can bring countries together, and sport is one such way.” First Pitch wants to introduce the game at the grassroots level in Manipur. For one, people play much more soccer than cricket. Second, this is a small place where sport — any sport — is always accepted and played,’’ says Roy.

During his short stay here, Roy says he has met CM

O Ibobi Singh, state sports minister K Govindas and Governor SS Sidhu, all of whom have shown enthusiasm. ‘‘We have requested the state to allot land for constructing a dedicated baseball park. Baseball needs a haven in India to take off, and the influence of cricket is too heavy in other parts of the country. For instance, Chennai has baseball players but their numbers are small compared to the city’s population. Manipur as a state has a population much smaller than Chennai, but the intensity of sports is high.’’

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THE history of the game in Manipur isn’t well-known, but Roy says the earliest possible instance could be an exhibition match viewed in Shillong by Manipur King Churachand in 1936. Then, during World War II, the Americans maintained two airbases here and the GIs would play baseball for recreation.

The present-day game, under the MABA and affiliated to the Indian Amateur Baseball Federation, has been around here for about two decades, says MABA joint secretary A Bhanu Chanu who is head coach for both boys and girls teams.

At 41, Bhanu Chanu has seen basketball struggle for expression through the years. ‘‘Our equipment is inadequate, and during the annual national championships, we often borrow equipment from other competing state teams. We are supposed to have 16 baseball helmets per team, but have only one, and a hockey ‘keeper’s’ helmet at that,’’ she laughs. In spite of that, the senior girls team won seven consecutive national crowns while the boys have made it to the semis.

With little or no quality equipment available in India and imported gear prohibitively expensive, most of the 26 local clubs have no equipment at all. Sub-junior player Ch Jin Singh says practice is only with the association’s meagre gear. ‘‘MLB and First Pitch’s efforts will be a huge boost to the game here, especially the equipment they’ve promised,’’ adds Bhanu Chanu.

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The difference in approach here would be to register each individual player as a member, instead of the clubs. ‘‘We’ll be using the leikai (neighbourhood) network to promote the game, instead of a gala launch. Each leikai here has several sports clubs for various games. The people of this state are movement-oriented, which is probably why there are world-famous sportspersons, dancers and theatre personalities coming out of here regularly but no painters or sculptors of repute,’’ Roy says.

But for Dell and MLBI, it’s about giving the game a good foundation. ‘‘We’re talking about an existing bat-and-ball culture here, so developing the players and coaches is made easier. It’s all about the kids having fun playing the game.’’

Well, they are having fun, and the upcoming MLB initiative and new equipment is all the more reason they should.