Special Olympics Summer Games 2019, Player Profile: Akansha Shantaram Mahtre

Akansha, 18 years, wakes up early to go for a walk followed by exercises as directed by her Coach Ms Bharti Varade.

She plays Basketball regularly in her school, Lion's Juhu Centre , practising individual skills along with following a monitored diet containing the required strength of proteins, vitamins etc.

As Akansha sits in her one- room house along with her parents and elder brother, she focuses on realising her dreams, no matter how much struggle it requires. Her mother’s daily toil to buy and sell fish to run the house on single income maybe a concern shelved for the moment.

“I am excited to play a competition and that too with people from a different country. I will make new friends also,” says Akansha.

Her path is clear – she has to build her stamina to fortify the Basketball team. This is her chance to prove her mettle, an opportunity gained after years of rejection and negativity.

Akansha studied in a mainstream School, Khar Danda, for a year and a half. With no progress observed and frequent complaints on her ‘inability’ to cope, her parents were compelled to search for a special school.

Although farther away from her home there was no choice but to admit her (at the age of approx. 6) at the Lion's Juhu Centre, where she is studying even now. Already strained by mapping a way forward for her, her parents had to confront the neighbours who felt that sending their ‘daughter’ that far would be of risk.

When Akansha joined this school she lacked confidence, was inhibited to speak to people and could not travel alone, even locally

6-7 years later she joined the Special Olympics sports program participating in Athletics, football and Basketball.

She reached the National level in Athletics and participated in the Special Olympics Malaysia Invitational Unified 5-A-Side Football Tournament held in November 2017.

On her return from Malaysia she was asked to share her experiences with the rest of the school; she talked excitedly about the tournament where they won a Silver Medal and spoke about the place, culture, friends and food. Bharti was overwhelmed to observe how much she had journeyed from where she had started.

"The transformation that I have observed in Aksansha is tremendous; be it in sports or her personal development. She is confident, speaks with clarity. She earlier used to get a little breathless during her sports practises. We got her medical examinations done, which were clear and worked towards building her stamina. Her growth through sports has made her capable enough for a job. On her return from the Abu Dhabi games I will see if she can get vocational training which could fetch her a job," says Bharti.

Her development through sports have brought to the surface more areas of her interest like Kathak (Indian Classical dance).

She participated in a district level dance competition held in Baroda, and won a trophy. As she is a good dancer, she has performed in the Opening Ceremony of SO Bharat Maharashtra events. She participated in reading sessions for which they used to read books. Drawing inspiration from this she has started loving reading books now:

“Akansha’s interest in sports strengthened after joining Special Olympics. Her progress was evident. Today Akanksha is one of the very bright students of the Lion's Juhu Centre School. Observing her progress her parents have developed so much faith in Special Olympics and are strongly supportive of her participation in it. As Bharti says, even if called at 12 at night, they will come if it has anything to do with Special Olympics,” says Ms Sandra Vaz, Area Director SO Bharat Maharashtra.