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Rotary Club of Secunderabad Sunrise |  |
Having been given the responsibility of building International Relations,1 thought there couldnt be a better way of doing it than thru the medium of sports, which speaks common language around the globe.
Browsing the Web site of Rotary International, I chanced upon the topic about 90 odd Rotary Fellowships out of which CRICKET could be one. Having great personal passion on Cricket, it was coincidental that our fellow Rotarians share the same feelings on this game and thus the spark in me got ignited when discussing IFCR (INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP FOR CRICKET LOVING ROTARIANS) with our GSR AND PAST PRESIDENT OF Rotary Club Of Secunderabad Rtn.C.Suresh, who fully encouraged me in crystallizing the Idea.
Of the many recreational and vocational fellowships that Rotary have helped to establish, the CRICKET FELLOWSHIP is the only one that is truly a TEAM game. It is designed to bring together Rotarians from across the world who share a common love for the game of Cricket So when you combine the fellowship of Rotary with the unique values that cricket provides you have a magic formula that provides true International fun and friendship.
The I F C R has five(5) main aims. 1)To allow allow cricket playing countries to tour each other countries and share hospitality and recreation whilst also seeing local sites and experiencing different cultures. 2) To get-together once every two or three years in a world festival of cricket and fellowship. 3) To arrange cricket matches within each country and district and to also encourage Rotarians who may have given-up the game to get back playing.4) To arrange social events and fellowships for cricket loving Rotarians and families who cannot play or no longer play the game but have lost none of their passion to watch and talk about it 5) To take the game to other Rotarians who know nothing of the game or who reside in a place or country where the game is not widely played.
Thus the idea of I F C R was conceptualized with active support of our own club (spearheaded by Rtn.Shravan Malani) and our club's passion for this game is well know now in our District. With enthusiastic support of Rtn.C.Suresh and our Asst.Govemor Va man Rao,it was floated around to several majorly cricket active clubs like Rotary Club of Hyderabad Deccan, RC of Ameerpet, RC of Secunderabad apart form many other senoir clubs of Twin Cities. The response has been very encouraging and will be long lasting. SO I F C R HAS COME TO STAY.
As part of above activity, regular practice sessions are being held ( about 10 practice sessions during the last three months) in which Rotarians from all cricket active clubs participate. Five games were played which included inter club games, combined club games and games with non Rotary clubs also. One flood lit game against a high profile team consisting of top Police Officials, Bureaucrats and Journalists was also played and covered in leading News papers as part of PR exercise. This game lasted until latein the night (well past Mid-night) but the Rotary families stayed put on the ground to encourage their team. The cricket spirit was at its best !!!!!!!!!
Having been drafted as member of I F C R world fraternity now from DlST 3150, I was invited to Chennai during the visit of SRLANKAN Rotarians there, as part of their annual exchange of visits to play cricket games with each other. IT WAS AN EXHILRA TING EXPERIENCE OF FELLOWSHIP THRU CRICKET. IT WAS REAL/SED THEN HOW I F C R IDEALS COULD REALLY CUT ACROSS THE BOUNDARIES OF THE WORLD .The result of this fellowship trip is that CHENNAI ROTARIANS ARE L/KEL Y TO VISIT HYDERABAD DURING JAN 2006 TO PLAY COUPLE OF CRICKET GAMES AND ENJOY THE FELLOWSHIP AND WE HAVE BEEN INVITED BY THE SRILANKANS TO VISIT THEIR COUNTRY SOME TIME IN APR-MA Y 2006 TO EXPERIENCE THE SAME.
Incidentally I F C R has also been contributing to COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS ,the ideas for which are conceptualized during the fellowship games. Meaningful projects ,which have thus resulted, are a great boon to Earthquake! Tsunami victims of recent times.
SO AS YOU COULD ALL SEE,THRU I F C R WE CAN ACHIEVE OUR AIMS, FUN, FELLOWSHIP, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND LAST BUT NOT THE
LEAST COMMUNITY SERVICE...
YOURS IN SERVICE OF ROTARY,
KRP SARATHY,
DIRECTOR (YOUTH SERVICES/INTERNA TIONAL RELATIONS)
