Khel Vikas athletes shine as competition season begins

The Konisi kho-kho team with their shield after winning the district competition

Khel Vikas win laurels in under-17

The recently concluded under-17 zonal, district and state school championships saw a flurry of students’ part of Khel Vikas (KV) participate and win laurels in volleyball, kabaddi and kho-kho. Students from Gram Vikas High School, Kankia, Gram Vikas Vidya Vihar, Rudhapadar and Gram Vikas Shiksha Niketan, Thuamulrampur participated in the various competitions, which were held in September across different venues in Odisha.

A total of 29 students from Gram Vikas High School, Kankia, competed in the zonal selections in kabaddi and kho-kho, which was held on the 17th and 18th of September. Nine KV girls took part in the Kho-Kho zonal meet and all were selected to represent Kanisi zone for the District meet which was held on 20-22nd September in Gopalpur, Odissa, where they finished as winners of Ganjam District.

Kho-kho and volleyball players excel in state selections

From the District meet, 4 girls were selected to compete in the state competition held in Titilagarh, Odisha. The boys kho-kho team comprised of 6 students who competed in the Zonal selections and 3 of them participated in the District meet. Five boys and three girls in kabaddi competed in the Zonal meet, out of which 3 from each got selected for the Districts.

Six KV boys competed in the volleyball district meet at Berhampur stadium, out of which 4 got selected to compete in the state meet at Jajpur, Odisha.

The Gram Vikas Vidhya Vihar School in Rudhapadar never had a PE program or a PE teacher until June of this year. In a short span, the efforts of coaches and the students have resulted in 8 athletes in kho-kho and kabaddi going to the Zonal meet for the first time.

Four boys and four girls in both kho-kho and kabaddi took part in the Zonal selections at UV High School, Bhanjanagar. All the girls were selected to compete in the kho-kho (2) and kabaddi (2) District meets, while one boy got selected to play in the kho-kho District meet.

PE teachers showing encouraging signs

The Gram Vikas Shiksha Niketan School in Thuamalrampur is situated in the conflict district of Kalahandi, where sporting activities for youth are hard to come by. However, the Gram Vikas School in Thuamulrampur has a full-time PE program, with the added component of after school programs in three sporting disciplines.

The under-17 selections were a good example to show how sport has become a regular activity for the school. Nine boys from volleyball competed in the District championships, from which four travelled to Jajpur, Odisha to take part in the state meet. Out of all the participants in the kho-kho and kabaddi District meets, one boy and two girls got selected to participate in state championships.

The first month of this year’s competition season has already seen an increased number of participation of KV athletes across all schools competing in various sports. For many athletes, sport presents an opportunity to show their talent and ‘pro-sport developments’ after-school programs provide the perfect platform to do just that.

With many more competitions coming up, there will be more athletes taking part in different tournaments across Odisha. The organisation is hoping to continuously increase these numbers and encourage more students to take part in sporting activity.

Edited by Staff Editor