Sweety Kumari from Bihar is rugby’s ‘International Young Player of the Year’

The Young Player category resulted in some of the most diverse nominations, over a dozen names being put forward from more than 10 different countries. All of our nominees made a major impact on the game having started their careers at clubs or schools but only one began after forming her own team.

From Barh in Bihar, Sweety was an athlete with no knowledge about rugby until the secretary of the state rugby association saw her at an athletics meeting and suggested that she try out rugby. Just 14 she single-mindedly found out all she could about the game, created and organised a team, and entered the state championship.

Within three years she was in the national U17 team, and last year the senior national team. She impressed from the start but it was this year that she started making a big impact scene in Asia at both sevens and fifteens.

Described by Asia Rugby as the continent's fastest player, her explosive pace and power has resulted in her top scoring at most of India’s sevens tournaments, as well as scoring two outstanding tries their first ever test match win against Singapore.

India’s hopes of playing outside Asia appear limited with at least half a dozen better resourced and more experienced nations competing for Asia’s one or two spots in world tournaments so we may be a long time before we see Kumari pit her speed against the likes Portia Woodman or Ellia Green, but if any one player can take her team to a higher level its Kumari.

- citation by Scrumqueens – Women’s Rugby

-TIN Bureau