19/05/2022
This is what Ultimate is really all about...
Less than 24 hours before we were to leave for the Nationals in Bangalore, we were told that we might not be allowed to play with football studs and needed turf shoes instead. With our players unable to afford such shoes and Project KHEL not having enough time or budget to source turf shoes, we had to carry our regular sports shoes along with the studs.
We got lucky on the first two days of the tournament and studs were allowed on the ground. Unfortunately, it had been raining quite a bit the night before our semi-finals and the Tournament Director had strictly banned football studs from the ground for this important match. The shoes that our team had carried did not have much grip to run and cut as we were used to.
However, just a few minutes into the semi-finals, we saw several pairs of turf shoes lined up at the sideline, for anyone from our team who could find their size and switch shoes quickly in between points!! This incredible act of kindness was led by none other than our favouritest team in the country, Stray Dogs In Sweaters. Our mentor team from the very beginning, 6 years ago... in this tournament, they had been rooting for us from the start, through all our matches, but to go beyond cheering and actually offering support in this manner makes us feel really humbled.
We are short of words in expressing how grateful we felt at that moment. Thank you SDIS!!
Kahlil Gibran had said that “Kindness is like snow- It beautifies everything it covers.” And isn't this a beautiful view of the sideline?
