PUNE: Rural
athletes Vaishnavi Sawant and Reshma Kewate from Mhaswad, Satara stood first
and second respectively in the 2500 metre race at a Northern Virginia regionals
competition conducted at Lake Braddock Secondary School, Washington DC, USA
recently
The three Athletes who had gone to US for a unique two-week
athletic immersion programme under the Mann Deshi Champions Programme were
felicitated at a special ceremony held in Mumbai. Minister Chandrakant Patil
spent time speaking with the girls and their families and inaugurated the
event.
Vaishanavi Sawant, Reshma Kewate and Poonam Kalel are all
young athletes who come from the drought-prone region of Mann taluka in rural
Maharashtra and are supported by the Mann Deshi Champions Programme. Vaishanavi
is a long jumper, Reshma is a long-distance marathon runner and Poonam is a
triple-jumper. They all joined our programme several years ago and since then
have gone on to win many local and state-level sporting competitions.
Reshma, Poonam and Vaishanavi have faced enormous financial
and economic challenges on their journeys to become recognized athletes. They
spoke about their training and travels - a far cry from running behind
livestock and cutting sugarcane without even a decent pair of shoes to build
their stamina and muscles! Their parents also talked about how proud they were
of their daughters achievements and how hard they had struggled to be where
they are today.
Prabhat Sinha, the Founder of this Programme, said that there
are very limited opportunities in rural areas to shine in athletics because of
the lack of facilities, awareness and support. The Mann Deshi Champions
programme aims to address this gap and provides sports facilities, equipment,
training and nutrition to the rural children in Mhaswad, India. The objective
of the programme is to empower young rural girls and boys to develop their
potential and seriously consider sports as a career.
Vandana Bhansali, Programme Director said that all the
athletes came from very humble backgrounds. We are inspired to continue to
enhance and nurture these talents."
Chetna Sinha, Chairperson of the Mann Deshi Foundation, said
there is a strong link between sports and youth development. She said,
"Ever since we started this programme for the children of Mhaswad and
surrounding villages, we have gotten a tremendous response. This programme is
now developing into a big movement with regular activities like the Mann
Deshi Mini Marathon. We even plan to support an athletes in the upcoming
Olympics in Japan."
0 comments:
Post a Comment