Me, The Change Impact: World Rugby to Promote Bihar’s Sweta Shahi

Sweta Shahi has been invited to London as part of World Rugby’s campaign to promote women in global rugby.

Taapsee Pannu and Jay Panda felicitating Sweta Shahi at the ‘Me, The Change’ event.

(Photo: The Quint)

Sweta Shahi, the rugby player from Nalanda, Bihar, whose story The Quint covered as part of the ‘Me, The Change’ campaign, has been invited to attend a World Rugby meeting as part of a campaign to accelerate the global development of women in rugby.

Sweta was also felicitated by The Quint as part of the campaign on 18 January at an event held in Delhi.

Sweta is a self-taught rugby player from a village in Bihar’s Nalanda district who has struggled immensely to achieve success in the sport of rugby and has played for India at the international level. She also coaches young girls in Nalanda, some of who also play at the national level now. The 19-year-old’s dream is to play for India at the Olympics. Watch her story here:

Speaking to The Quint, Sweta said that World Rugby, the world governing body for the sport of rugby, had seen the video released as part of ‘Me, The Change’ and appreciated her story and her struggle. They have therefore invited her to London in February to promote her and her talent as part of a new initiative that World Rugby is rolling out.

The organisation is beginning a team of 15 global ‘Unstoppables’ – women who have faced significant obstacles in their lives and who have been able to flourish and inspire other women through their excellence in the sport of rugby. This is World Rugby’s first such team – and Sweta will be a part of it!

Watch the video that has helped catapult Sweta to fame and put her firmly on the map of global rugby!