Maharashtra Para Sports, an annual initiative to provide young para athletes a platform to showcase their talent, will be conducted at the Khar Gymkhana from January 26 to 28 next year.
Announcing this at a press conference recently, Amit Modi, the organising secretary of Maharashtra Para Sports, said this was a talent pool that had not been explored to its fullest potential. “We intend to explore this at the grass roots, which is why we have taken up this initiative,” he said.
A statement by the organiser said that events will be conducted for boys and girls in the under-12, under-15, under-18 and over-18 age categories in eight individual and two team sports. Competitions will be conducted in table tennis, chess, carom board, lawn tennis, swimming, karate, box cricket and rink football.
“This year, we are aiming for a participation of 500 young para athletes. Our target is to attract participation of 5,000 young athletes by the third year,” Mr. Modi said. He said that the organisation had written to 500 schools in Maharashtra, informing them about the sports meet.
Affiliated with the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the initiative will receive technical assistance, and the children who will win medals at the Maharashtra Para Sports will get sponsorship in the form of advanced training.
