Hyderabad’s sporting heartbeat thudded in school quadrangles and college maidans

Before leagues had sponsors and trophies had brand logos, Hyderabad’s sporting heartbeat thudded in school quadrangles and college maidans. Long before academies and astro-turfs, it was the city’s great institutions that built muscle, temperament and ambition.

Names such as Hyderabad Public School, All Saints’ High School, Boys’ Town High School, Methodist High School, St George’s Grammar School, Wesley Boys’ High School, Mahbub College, St. Patrick’s High School, St Paul’s High School, St. Mary’s High School, Valerian Grammar High School and St. Andrew’s High School were not just academic addresses. They were talent factories.

St Francis College for Women in Begumpet

For girls, institutions like St. Francis High School and St Francis College for Women, St. Ann’s High School, Rosary Convent High School, Madras-e-Aliya School, Mahbubia Girls’ School and Stanley Girls High School ensured that competitive fire burned just as fiercely on their campuses.

At the next rung, Sardar Patel College, Nizam College and the sprawling colleges grounds of Osmania University turned sport into serious business — swimming at dawn, cricket by afternoon, basketball under fading light.

Cricket: The Real Proving Ground

There was a time when schools cricket under the watch of the Hyderabad Cricket Association was a rite of passage. It wasn’t just a tournament. It was a stage.

All Saints’ High School in Abids

Youngsters who sharpened their cover drives in school nets suddenly found themselves under scrutiny — selectors watching, rivals sledging, pride at stake. The HCA Schools Squad fed into Zonal Championships, which in turn became the gateway to the Hyderabad Ranji side and junior state teams. If Abid Ali, Sultan Saleem, Mohd Azharuddin and Noel David bloomed from the cricket field of All Saints, Arshad Ayub and VVS Laxman blossomed from Little Flower. Ghulam Ahmed and Abbas Ali Baig were products of Madras-e-Aliya.  There were other stalwarts too like Khalid Abdul Qaiyyum and Shahid Akbar in cricket, Khasim Ali, Y D Upendernath, Samuel Wilson, Mohd Ibrahim Khan and P Nagender Reddy and one-arm wonder Hitesh Dolwani who represented some of these wonder institutions in table tennis.

But the little known Chaderghat Government School and the City College were the bedrock of schools and junior football.

Nizam College ground

For some, it was destiny calling. Talents like Inder Raj and Mushtaq rose through this gritty ladder to represent Indian Schools. Colleges fielded their own formidable outfits in Zonals and inter-university competitions. The pathway was clear. Perform. Progress. Repeat.

Athletics: Where the Grounds Roared

If cricket built reputations, athletics built atmospheres.

At the Gymkhana grounds, V. Suryanarayana’s age-group meets crackled with energy. Across at the Railway and Osmania grounds, Xavier’s events were equally electric. The air would throb with anticipation — spikes scraping cinder tracks, whistles piercing the din, classmates screaming themselves hoarse.

It was raw. It was chaotic. It was glorious.

St Ann’s College for women in Mehdipatnam

The Drillmasters and Visionaries

Behind every medal was a taskmaster who believed sport was non-negotiable.

At HPS, NJS Devadatham and Emmanuel enforced discipline with military neatness. Wesley had Aseervadam, St John’s Church School had Isaac. All Saints’ High School had the redoubtable physical education teacher R U Dixit, who was also a qualified state-level football referee. At St. Patrick’s, L P Naidu, a retired Subedar Major, ran assemblies with parade-ground precision. Earlier stalwarts like Eric Francis, Rodrigues and Hufton made drill a spectacle of symmetry.

Then came transformation. Under Fr. Devasia, St. Patrick’s upgraded from dusty ambition to structured infrastructure — a lush green cricket outfield, a proper basketball court where the priest himself occasionally joined play, camps conducted by Thyagesh and Appa Rao, basketball grooming under Ravinder Baba, a cement tennis court, even an enclosed skating rink.

Osmania University grounds

Maintenance may have slipped later. The intent never did.

St. Mary’s boasted a formidable football team and a ground to match. Mahbub College was equally fierce in the sport. This was where the younger Dixit deployed his sports talent in large measure. HPS, with two enviable grounds and a dedicated sports department, consistently fielded powerhouse cricket teams.

Ahead of Its Time

If innovation had a campus, it was St. Andrew’s.

The school injected professionalism into school sport long before the term became fashionable. Players were rewarded with cash incentives. Nutritious refreshments were standard. Competent coaches like Noel Carr, Anil Mittal and Appa Rao were brought in by sports director K John Manoj. Apart from cricket, basketball, chess — everything received structured attention.

St Andrews School in Marredpally

It was bold. It was revolutionary. It worked.

Froebel’s at Red Hills kept sport alive year-round, refusing to let it become a seasonal hobby.

The Women Who Changed the Game

For girls’ sport, the D’Mello sisters were trailblazers — Hilda at St. Ann’s ISC, Olga at St. Ann’s SSC, Rosy at Rosary Convent, Devakrupavaram at Kasturba Gandhi college for women. They demanded effort, insisted on excellence and inspired generations of girls to compete without inhibition.

More Than Medals

These institutions did more than win cups. They built grit. They created rivalries that sharpened character. They turned shy boys into captains and hesitant girls into champions.

When it came to collegiate sports, Nizam College led the pack with top-tier cricket, boxing, tennis and a premier swimming venue, while institutions like Sardar Patel, New Science, Vivek Vardhini and Badruka shared the spotlight. Osmania University which remains a powerhouse in cricket. basketball and tennis, is now guided by the exemplary leadership of Dr. Rajesh Kumar. Earlier, it was the ageless wonder K Ranga Rao, who guided Osmania’s destiny. Gardiner was another efficient physical director of this huge set up.

Wesley Boys High School in Secunderabad

Key figures like Jaya Kumar, Edward’s, Samuel Mark, and Jairaj provided the heart of these programs, supported by the Domalguda Physical Education College’s pipeline of dedicated directors. Furthermore, a legendary bunch of women’s directors — including Afsar Ahmed, Jyoti Joshi and Gloria Phillips —redefined the standards for sports education in the region.

Hyderabad’s sporting pedigree was not born overnight. It was chiselled over decades — on school grounds, in college corridors, under watchful physical directors who believed that sport was not extracurricular.

This was indeed essential. Schools of thought that gave sports a great filip!!!

Roll of honours

Schools

Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet

Hyderabad Public School, Ramanthapur

All Saints’ High School

Wesley Boys’ High School

Chaderghat High School

Madrasa-I-Aliya High School

Methodist Boys’ High School

St George’s Grammar School

Mahbubia

Mahbub College

Little Flower High School

St. Patrick’s High School

St Paul’s High School

St. Mark’s Boys Town

St Andrew’s School

St Mary’s High School

Froebel’s School

Keshav Memorial High School

Rosary Convent

St Francis High School

Stanley Girls’ High School

St Ann’s High School

Gujarati High School

Hyderabad Public School Ramanthapur

Colleges:

Nizam College

OU campus Colleges

Sardar Patel College

City College

Koti Women’s College

RBVR college

Vanitha Mahavidyalaya

St. Francis College for Women

Kasturba College for Women

St Pious College

St Ann’s College for Women

Villa Marie College for Women

Badruka College

St Mary’s Junior College

Osmania Medical College

Physical Education Directors:

Ghouse Mohammed

Ranga Rao

Mrs. Gardiner

Jairaj

BG Edwards

Samuel B Mark

R U Dixit

NSJ Devadatham

Bro. Joseph

L J Wilson

Ms. Jyoti Joshi

Devakrupavaram

(Details provided by G. Rajaram, senior sports journalist).