Vahbiz Bharucha - Indian women's rugby squad captain!

We've always been big fans of the Indian women's rugby squad. So, you can imagine our delight when we got the opportunity to feature the Captain of the Indian Women's Rugby Team in our official ISRO merchandise!

Vahbiz Bharucha's inspirational story is one of perseverance and the desire to break through obstacles in sports.

If you haven't seen her interview yet, watch here:

Please find the Transcription below

My name is Vahbiz Bharucha I am the captain of the Indian women's rugby team and I am a practicing physical therapist.

Tell us a little bit about what got you interested in Rugby?
So, the thing that got me most interested in rugby was the rules of the game and the ethics of the game, we will assume that rugby is a contact sport & Hooligans game but actually the rules make you a complete gentleman/gentlewoman so you know something as simple as you did not raise your hands and feel even though it's a contact sport There are rules and regulations with which you must abide to play the game and any foul play the player is immediately taken off the field that's number one second thing that got me most attracted to the sport were the principles of the game and the values of the game which are passion Integrity solidarity discipline and teamwork and these five values really showed me as a woman

What are some of the challenges faced playing rugby in India?
Being a rugby player in India is actually a boon because if nobody gives you shit, as you come across extremely confident.

How are you and your team managing during COVID?
so discipline is one of the values of rugby we have continued our working out from home and it's been extremely challenging because there was nothing to work towards but we did understand that when all of this clears up and when things open up we will have to be game ready and prepared for our competition because it will start at some point so we all have been training hard at our own homes on terrace Gardens backyard staircases footpaths you name it we have been putting all the hard work during these two years. 

How has your training been going on? does it involve a lot of ground fitness and weights?
Rugby is one of the games that involves a mixture of you having to be strong powerful fast agile and smart so our training techniques involve us to condition ourselves in all of these realms so yes we do a lot of strength conditioning in the gym we do a lot of running on the field or like I said on the road we do a lot of endurance training in terms of long-distance running Sprint agility training in terms of our ladder drills and also sometimes we will walk towards our mental training in terms of just basically staying calm stuff like juggling a ball solving puzzles something that we all do at our own time.

Any quick tip for athletes who are looking at maintaining strength and muscle mass?
So my tip to an athlete who wants to maintain the muscle mass is be engaged in strength work and specifically when you're working in muscle building try and do a lot of isometric work when you are holding an exercise you know for example if you're doing so you pull up and you hold it over there, speed and repetitions in strength workout has to go nice and easy with it is to go slow and hit the full range. That is something that I would give tell.

What does the future in rugby looks like for your team?
the future looks very very bright honestly right now because we have got a sponsorship with the Odisha government they are they have been very very generous in signing a contract with the Indian rugby football Union for the span of three years where they are going to take care of the International Rugby team and we also have other sponsors as fast and up, blade, Kalinga Institute of Information Technology so everyone is there is this entire ecosystem of sport that has been created and we are the center of  focus, for the next 3 years at least whatever is going to happen in rugby is going to happen big massive something that has been a game-changer the last year is that all the national athletes are getting paid, for the first time ever this is happening after 12/11 years of women's rugby being in the country so it's such a huge step for any sport in the country who have their National level players be paid so we're semi professional at this point.

Tell us one best moment for you and your team?
oh one of the most rewarding moments was in 2019 when India got its first-ever fifteens win internationally Singapore 21 19 and that was that was a huge movement of joy for all of us some of us were just so happy some of us rejoiced to by calling up our parents and telling them that we won and it was a huge deal in the country as well in terms of media so that was one of the very very memorable moments and also a milestone in women's rugby.

Any words of motivation for young, budding rugby enthusiast?
Anybody who is interested and wants to pursue the sport of rugby my advice to you would be that work hard be patient your time will come, do not get demotivated and leave the game because you did not get a moment that you did not get a chance to be a part of something big now because the sport is growing and it is going to be much bigger ten years from now to put in the hard work and effort now you will you will get yours you will get your chance later on or having said that it'll be there is not only about being an athlete not only about playing on field there are a lot of people are enrolled in the game without having to play the game for example referees coaches match officials so you can actually look towards all these areas of progressing in a sport it's not only limit to playing as much as what is the most exciting part for any child or any young person but you could look at all other means as well, that would be my advise.