It is said sport has the power to change the world. And change is what Jammu & Kashmir Sports Council is endeavouring to bring about in society by introducing the local youth to sports activities,thereby channelising their energies towards positive pursuits. Through its initiative, ‘My Youth, My Pride’, the council is trying to create a better future for the youth by steering them clear from any anti-social activity.
To engage the rural youth especially in sports activities, the Council has already developed playfields in all levels – panchayat, block, district, border villages, tribal areas, etc. Lakhs of youth from these areas are now involved in sporting activities through this initiative. Indian Masterminds interacted with Ms. Nuzhat Gull, Secretary, J&K Sports Council, to know about this initiative in detail.
MY YOUTH, MY PRIDE
That ‘My Youth My Pride’ is adding spark to the playfields of Jammu and Kashmir is visible from the medal tally.
Speaking to Indian Masterminds, Ms. Nuzhat Gull said, “My Youth My Pride is an initiative of Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council, wherein, we organise sports competitions to involve rural children from sensitive areas like border and tribals villages, etc. It was started to counter drugs and other anti-social activities because once a child engages in sports, he stays away from destructive and self-harming activities.”
The initiative that started in April has already achieved 7.5 lakh youth engagements till now. The target is to engage more than 35 lakhs youth directly or indirectly. “I am saying indirectly because we also include the spectators. Like, for instance, a cricket match is eleven vs eleven. But there is engagement of, and enthusiasm,in the whole area,”said Ms. Gull.
TARGET CHANGES
She further said that they are looking at a lot of changes this initiative would bring. “You can clearly see the visible numbers – before this initiative and after this initiative. Before this initiative, only few lakhs of youth engagement in sports were noticed in many years. But now, you can see such engagements in a month!”
The biggest change came from PMDP (Prime Minister Development Package yojana) as every district got an indoor stadium with this scheme,every panchayat got a sports ground with proper facilities. As of now, Jammu and Kashmir has 54 sports stadiums that are floodlit.
“With floodlights, children can play in the evening and at night also, and this saves them from many bad things. The good news is our medal tally is increasing. Be it hockey, gymnastic, water sports, fencing, volleyball, football, they all have such huge enrolment that we are facing shortage of coaches and are trying to bring in more. Now sports are crowd puller here and we are getting very positive response from all over the state,” Ms. Gull said.
WORKING WITH ARMY
The Council is working closely with the Indian Army to give a fillip to the initiative. Ms. Gull explained how: “We have told them to involve us in any sporting competition they want to organise, as we have registered associations and so we can help by providing our staff, like match referee, umpire, etc.At the same time, we have told them to do it on a regular basis, so that the youth can get quota through sports policy which will help them get jobs in future.”
Recently, a chess seminar was organised under ‘My Youth My Pride’ at an army auditorium for the youth of border areas under the guidance of army staff.
MEDAL TALLY
The second edition of National Winter Games was successfully held at the world-famous tourist destination of Kashmir – Gulmarg – where 1200 athletes from 27 states and union territories participated. J&K topped the medals tally with 72 gold, 90 silver and 145 bronze. It is the highest in the history of Jammu and Kashmir so far. This appropriately highlights the success of the J&K Sports Council in grooming local players for a better future.
The Council is now preparing to host the 3rd Khelo India National Winter Games in Gulmarg and national-level water sports competitions in Basohli.
