Its raining success at Satchidananda Jothi Nikethan

The school cricket team has won almost every tournament they have played

Sports are a core element of balanced education for students and contribute towards the integrated development of the mind and the body. Sports builds self- confidence self esteem enhances physical, social and cognitive development and improves academic achievement.
Schools play a major role in developing sports apart from individual interest and passion. Satchidanananda Jothi Nikethan International School is one of the few schools where sports are an integrated element of the school culture.
One cannot help but marvel at the sporting facilities at Satchidananda Jothi Nikethan International school- be it the magnificent hockey field or the well maintained Tennis, Basket Ball, Badminton courts, Cricket Nets etc.,
To nurture sporting talent among the students, the school has sublime facilities in the campus. The school provides immense support to sports and it’s quite visible from the enthusiasm students exhibit. Satchidananda has the best teams in almost every sport, be it Hockey or Cricket.
The school cricket team has won laurels. The team won the A.V. Lakshmanan Chettiyar Trophy in the CDCA Under- 12 Inter school district tournaments last month. Batting first Satchidananda team made 171 runs in 25 overs for a loss of 4 wickets against Lisieux MHSS. Chasing a big total Lisieux made 110 for the loss of 3 wickets. Satchidananda beat Liseaux School by 61 runs.
The Under- 14 boys team is no less. They had a magnificent win over Sri Ramakrishna MHSS in the final of the CDCA Under- 14 inter school cricket tournament. Satchidananda boys made 293 for 3 in 50 overs. Ramakrishna team made 116 in 32.2 overs which gave a mammoth 177 run victory over their opponents.
Coaches play an inevitable role in success stories. As per the words of Mike Tyson “the wise coach develops not only the fullest physical potential in his charges, but also those capacities and habits of mind and body which will enrich and ennoble their later years. The role of the sports coach is to create the right conditions for learning to happen and to find ways of motivating the athletes”. This goes true for every coach in every sporting discipline.
Behind the success stories of Satchidanana Jothi Nikethan’s cricket teams of all age categories lies the effort of a passionate coach- Dr.Shivaji who has done his doctorate in physical education from Bharathiar University. After completing PhD, most physical education teachers don’t prefer working in schools, but he does so with equal passion.
Shivaji clarifies our doubt, “I was working at karunya University when Senthil sir, the physical director of our school approached me and the only reason I accepted his offer was because of the encouragement and support the school management gives for sports”.
“My ambition is to watch my students play for the state& the national team”, says the coach with a grin.” With the kind of hard work and effort they put in my boys will definitely make it big”, he adds with pride.
Talking to the boys who reflect an immense respect for Dr.Shivaji says a lot about his commitment and sincerity.

The Salem boy now in his 12th standard has represented his home district twice and had scored an unbeaten 130 in his first match in the CDCA Under- 14 Inter school tournament.A highly talented wicket keeper batsmen who idolizes Dhoni has attended TNCA state camp twice. He is all in praise for his coaches Santhosh who happened to be his first coach in salem and Shivaji his school coach now.” I owe everything to both of my coaches, whatever I am achieving now in cricket its because of Santhosh Sir & Shivaji Sir”, says Nishanth genuinely. He has won the “Man of the series” award twice when he played his district matches.

R.B.JishnuVignesh

A class 9 student joined Satchidananda because he found cricket coaching here to be the best in this region which he attributes to the coach Shivaji. His 165 in 166 balls in the finals against Sri Ramakrishna MHSS in the CDCA inter school tournament made Satchidananda champions in the Under-14 category. This wicket keeper batsman loves ViratKohli and seems to be a potential batsman who will go places according to his coach. Jishnu says, ”Shivaji sir’s motivation is the key factor which helped me improve my game to this level and Im looking forward to work hard and get better under his guidance”.

Prajin

Captain of the Under- 12 team which won the CDCA interschool tournament, his 73 not out in the final match against Lisieux MHSS played a major role in the team winning the tournament. Prajin has also represented Namakkal district in the Under- 14 category.The class 7 student started playing cricket from his 5th standard and he loves Rohit Sharma and Dhoni and aspires to play like his idols one day.

NithilPranoav

The Right handed batsman who scored a century in his debut match in the Under-12 interschool CDCA tournament made an unbeaten 108 which was one of the best centuries of the tournament. Studying in class 7, he also made 30 in the finals to aid Jishnu in winning the match and ultimately the trophy. His favorite player is Dhoni and his ambition is to become a great player like him.

A.S.Prathik

The left arm fast bowler’s 5 wickets for 33 runs played a significant role in winning the finals against Sri Ramakrishna MHSS in the CDCA Under-14 inter school tournament. No wonder he likes Shoaib Akhtar and Mitchell stark. Now in his 9th standard Prathik started playing cricket from class 5 after Shivaji took over as the cricket coach in Satchidananda.

A.K.Ashwin

The class 8 student is a medium pacer, his 5 wicket haul in the quarter finals of CDCA Under-12 tournament took the team to Semi finals. His all time favourite being Sachin, started playing cricket from class 5.

Anusuya

The only girl in the boy’s game, a fearless girl, right arm spinner and a left hand batswoman took to cricket though she was playing shuttle earlier. “She is very bold and fearless, the very first day she got hurt but never gave up and came back to practice after treating her injury. We are waiting for permission from the association to play her in the boys team.With her attitude she is sure to go places”, says Shivaji with pride.
With such wonderful talent Satchidananda Jothi Nikethan are the champions in the Sahodhaya trophy- a tournament held among the CBSE schools in Coimbatore and nearby districts. They are the overall champions for the five years and this says a lot about the commitment and passion of the school team.

Shivaji

Invariably all the students attribute this success to Shivaji who took charge as the coach before five years. “I was scared initially and I took it as a challenge. I was training youngsters in my previous assignment. Coaching school kids was new to me when I took over but the commitment these kids show gave me confidence. We started winning in the very first year after I took over and from there nothing stopped our boys from winning almost every tournament we participated” claims Shivaji.
Shivaji’s hard work has yielded results for sure which is visible from the fact that the school once had 15 students who used to play cricket before 5 years has now 125 students attending cricket coaching, the school team has places to go under his able guidance.
And that looks like Dr.Shivaji and his loyal teams are made for each other.. Proverbially.. ‘Hitting the bulls eye..’ every time as their target.

– Sujatha.S, Photo: Balaji Remy.