FROM ORPHANAGE TO AN ACE RUGBY COACH

The only childhood memories Roshan Xaxa has is of working in a tea stall somewhere in North Bengal or roaming aimlessly on Sealdah railway station from where someone took him to the Don Bosco Orphanage in Kolkata.

He has no idea about where he was born and doesn’t recall anything about his parents.

Rugby has given Xaxa his identity, a way of life, and his trainees are making a mark in the national and international arenas. “During my stay at Don Bosco Orphanage I was introduced to rugby. I got fascinated and started pursuing it. It gave me a reason to live and thrive in life,” says the coach.

Xaxa had represented West Bengal and Odisha in nationals before switching to coaching a decade ago.

He started his coaching journey in 2007 with Kalinga Institute of Social Science (KISS) — a free residential school for tribal kids — in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. He shifted base to Saraswatipur three years ago and is working with Kolkota NGO Jungle Crow that runs a rugby programme.

“During my stint in Odisha, I got an opportunity to coach tribal girls and their adversities in life made them stronger to achieve bigger things,” says Xaxa.

About coaching Saraswatipur girls, he said, “As there was no sports culture, in the beginning we faced a lot of hurdles in convincing the parents to introduce their daughters to the sport. The biggest challenge came when they got selected in the West Bengal team for nationals the first time because initially the parents were reluctant to send their daughters outside their locality. They had odd queries whether their girls might get exploited or they would be sent to some other state as domestic help. Eventually, we convinced them.”