Home Feature Stories Chhultim Sherpa: Man Behind Nepali Wheelchair Cricket Team

Chhultim Sherpa: Man Behind Nepali Wheelchair Cricket Team

1107
0

Chhultim Sherpa, the man behind the Nepali Wheelchair Cricket Team, was born in Solu, Sagarmatha zone of Nepal. From his childhood days, he was a part of the Disabled Association of Kathmandu, Nepal. He got lots of inspirations and motivations from the activities which he saw at Disabled Association. Currently, he is the president of the Wheelchair Cricket Association Nepal (WCAN), Secretary at Paraolympics and Executive Director at the International Wheelchair Cricket. He is currently working for sports and the overall development of disabled people like him. “I get inner satisfaction while I bring a smile on those innocent people’s faces.” says Mr. Sherpa.

He searched for the disabled people and formed the team which took about a year. While forming the team, they underwent lots of obstacles, like convincing their parents and the ones who didn’t believe in themselves that they could play. “It took me more than a year to motivate and counsel my team, which was really hard.” said the president. He managed all the team expenses by his own fund which he saved and collected from friends and family. “I worked hard at that time and now me and my team are getting the success which motivates me even more.” added Mr. Sherpa.

As he is an active member of different organizations, he had also volunteered for the rehabilitation during the time of the earthquake. He went to different villages like Dhading and helped in building houses for the earthquake victims.

The national wheelchair cricket team formed by Mr. Chultim Sherpa has ranked 2nd in the world ranking by international wheelchair cricket council and the three players are also successfully listed in the top ten best wheelchair Cricket players in the world. One of the players from his team has also successfully become a first Wheelchair Umpire Mr. Bharat Bahadur Karki.

He organized the International Wheelchair T-20 Tri-series in Nepal, where there was a participation of three countries: India, Bangladesh and Nepal. He organized the tournament by his own fund in Mangshir, 2074. “I felt really proud when I successfully organized International Tri-cricket wheelchair tournament in our home ground where even the government has thought of constructing a cricket ground. I felt really proud when our country won the tournament.” said Mr. Chhultim Sherpa. The team has also played before in Agra, India where they won 1 match out of 3. “Now, able bodied people are getting inspired as we disabled are playing.” says Himal Aryal, who is leading the team as a captain and was disabled due to the civil war in Nepal while he was an Army.

Recently four months back he formed a new disabled cricket team consisting of players who don’t use a wheelchair. Mr. Chhultim Gurung along with his team took them to the cricket tour in India where they learned a lot as India is a very good team in the field of disabled standing team. “Standing team qualified for the world cup which is going to happen in England next year. They got qualified in the same ground where the Nepali National Cricket team got eliminated just a few days before the qualification of standing team which made me more motivated and proud.” Said Mr. Chhultim Shrepa.

My future plan for the National Wheelchair Cricket team is to organize Asia Cup soon in Nepal. I am now more focused on guiding my team to more success in the upcoming future.” said Mr. Sherpa He is also planning to involve many other countries in the Wheelchair Cricket association and taking this game in more international level.

By: Rojal Rajthala