Worried about your children being addicted to gadgets? Here’s a sport that may see a change in the trend amongst children today.
At the Fit Rock Arena (Pallikaranai) that’s equipped with indoor climbing activities, one can train in the sport of climbing. To celebrate their first anniversary, a competition was recently organised, comprising over 60 participants from various age groups.
The place has a simple interior with posters of champions pasted all around the walls, to inspire participants. Peppy songs played in the background as pre-climbing instructions were given out.
Some participants have had previous training in the field while the others have walked in to check their abilities.
“When my daughter Manya was younger, she used to enjoy climbing anything she found around her. Looking at the interest she showed towards this sport, I ensured that she gets good training,” said Anu Ganapathy, a parent.
This sport helps in muscle building and also develops concentration.
“This sport requires a lot of strategising and will develop thinking skills among children,” said Lakshmi Priya Somasundaram, another parent whose daughter, Keerthana Triya Kidambi enjoys climbing and was a participant in the sub-junior category.
“There isn’t much of an awareness on rock climbing in Chennai and with this arena we want to change that,” said Shyam Manoharan, founder, Fit Rock Arena.
“We have difficulty levels planned according to the category the participants belong to,” Manoharan added.
“The main objective behind indoor climbing is to excel outdoors,” said J Gaurav, a member. “While men climbers use only power after a certain point, the women have good footwork and use amazing techniques,” he added.
Heading North
Manikandan Kumar is the first ever individual representing India in this sport and is a world champion in Para climbing, winning 11 medals across various competitions all over the globe. He has been practising it for over 15 years. He won the silver medal in 2014 at the World Championship, Spain, and won the gold at the IFSC Paraclimbing competition, UK in 2016.
