There’s an unusual buzz at the DY Patil Sports Academy, Nerul since the 1st of December as nearly 3000 children flock the complex to take part in something that probably can’t be explained in words. A conglomeration of more than 35000 kids, Navi Mumbai is probably hosting India’s largest school sports event where these kids, aged between 8-16 are participating in as many as 25 sporting events.
The nation exactly does not have a very healthy sporting culture, but repeatedly we have seen efforts being made to host and organize events that strengthen the grassroots of Indian sports ecosystem. Sports for All, is probably one of such events.
The description above must have already given a gist how huge the whole set up is, but could not be explained in words are the visuals of numerous young students participating in various disciplines and fighting it out to be the champion. With so many young raw talents under one roof, the least you can expect is an inspiring story.
One of those many thousand participants is Akansha. The 16-year-old comes from remote Bhosari Village from the interiors of Ahmednagar, where her parents work as farmers. She, however, is a state champion and grabbed team gold at the recently concluded National Rifle Shooting Championship. And here at the Sports for All event, she already won hearts by grabbing the gold in the U-17 Air Rifle Open Sight Category.
She hails from a drought-prone district and shooting is an expensive sport. But the fact that she managed to win the gold despite not having equipment of her own speaks volumes about her talent and determination. She currently trains at an academy at Wadala, where her uncle Babasaheb Ohal, who was also a national level shooter helps her out as a coach.
This is just one story, but this conglomeration, which the organizers like to call as the ‘mini Olympics’ has many such.
This is the second edition of Sports for All (SFA), and the event has already grabbed headlines for the level of organization they have showed and the kind of participation they have received. A brainchild of Rishikesh Joshi, the second edition saw six folds’ rise in the number of involvement and the number of events went up from 9 to 25.
What makes the second edition even more grand is the way it is organized. The organizers have ensured all its participants get an international level experience. From proper video documentation of every event to physios on ground, anything you ask is available.
This however, does not come for free. Since it’s a school event, every participating school has paid a fee of around 6000 rupees. The fees however for Government schools are waived off as the SFA has tied up with foundations and organizations to fund schools who need financial assistance.
The event as of now encompasses schools only from Mumbai, but if the organizers are to be believed, they will soon reach out to different cities. However, the fact that schools from Navi Mumbai do not get a chance to play, speaks volumes about the need for more such events.
We do have events like the National School Games organized under the aegis of the National School Games Federation of India, but does that suffice the need of a vast country like India? We all have the answer to that.
Sports for All at the first look, surely seems like good initiative taken. The event, which started on the 28th of November, will culminate on the 19th of December.
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