Pooja Chugh is a very rare type of athlete: she competes and is successful in multiple sports at the varsity level. In her third year at U of T, Chugh has been a successful member of the Blues badminton, tennis, and squash teams.
Chugh competes on multiple varsity teams. PHOTO COURTESY OF VARSITY BLUES
Chugh’s athletic career is full of awards and championships that began when Chugh was young.
“I became involved [in badminton] when I was younger,” says Chugh. “I like racquet sports, so my dad kind of registered me in everything, in all different sports, so I’ve tried everything. And then once I hit high school, I just picked the ones that I really liked and went with that.”
In high school Chugh played tennis, squash, and volleyball, competing at regional and national competitions.
“I have two bronze medals from the Arctic Winter Games, and I’ve won the territorial championships every year that I was in high school. And I’ve been to nationals, competed there… in the Canada Winter Games I finished ninth there. I’ve been to the Western games for badminton too,” she said.
Born in the Northwest Territories, Chugh decided to come to U of T for access to the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) competitive circuit, acknowledging that there aren’t comparable leagues for racquet sports in other provinces.
Although it was a bit of an adjustment to study at U of T and play two varsity sports — squash and tennis — in her first year, Chugh enjoyed it.
“It was a great experience. It was tough in the sense of learning to balance varsity with your studies, but I really like the team. Everybody’s so supportive, especially of first years, so it was a really great experience. It was a lot of fun. All the competition was amazing.”
“[In squash] I did pretty well in first year… I finished second individually in the OUA, and then we finished third as a team. And I won OUA rookie of the year that year.”
Despite her success, Chugh had to stop playing squash after first year due to class conflicts.
“[During] second year I only played tennis. I’ve been on the tennis team all throughout my university career. It was definitely easier to manage, doing varsity with all my other studies and any other extracurriculars I’m balancing.
“In first year I don’t think [the tennis team] medalled; then in second year we finished second, and then this year we won the OUAs. So it was a building process for us.”
In her third year, Chugh decided to try a new varsity sport: badminton.
“I love it. I love everyone on the team. Everyone’s so disciplined and focused on what they’re doing,” she said.
Although it sounds difficult to be part of multiple teams in the same year, the timing of the seasons allows Chugh to do just that.
“The seasons are different, so tennis is shorter and earlier in the year — badminton starts just about when tennis is ending, so it’s easy for me to balance the two,” she explained.
In addition to playing for the Blues, Chugh has continued to compete individually outside of the university circuit.
“In May I’ll be playing in the Canadian senior nationals for squash. Last year I played in the Canadian Open for racquet lawn, which is all three sports and ping pong in one tournament. So it’s a lot of fun… I won the consolation so now I have a world ranking in racquet lawn,” she explained.
“I did the Canadian University championships for squash the last two years,” she said. “Last year I won the consolation, and the year before I finished in seventh place… I might be going to the Canadian Winter Games next year for badminton, so that’s on my list of things to train for.”
Going forward, Chugh plans to continue playing badminton and tennis for the Varsity Blues next year. And after graduation, the neuroscience and animal physiology major (and writing and rhetoric minor) hopes to stay involved in sports.
“I want to go into medicine. I’m not sure which kind of medicine yet, but I have been thinking of doing sports medicine, and maybe one day travelling with Team Canada.”
