Excelsior Sports Correspondent
KATRA, May 25: The 6th meeting of the Governing Council of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board’s Sports Complex, Katra, was held at the Spiritual Growth Centre here today.
A number of significant decisions, for scouting the sporting talent and arranging mega sports events in the coming months to promote sports and games in the area were taken in the meeting.
Dr Ashok Bhan, Member Shrine Board and Chairman of the Governing Council of the Sports Complex, chaired the meeting. Simrandeep Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board; Vivek Verma, Additional CEO; Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra, President, Indian Olympic Association; Ashwani Nachappa, former International Athlete (Arjuna Awardee); Sanjeeva Singh, former International Archer (Arjuna/ Dronacharya Awardee); Kuldeep Handoo, ace Wushu player and Chief Coach of India; besides Ashok Kumar, Director Sports, SMVDSB, all of whom are members of the Governing Council, participated in the deliberations. Ace Sports Administrator Ranjeet Kalra and Shiv Kumar Sharma attended the meeting as the Special Invitees.
Hem Kant Prasher, Chief Accounts Officer and Dr Arvind Karwani, Deputy CEO of the Shrine Board were also present.
The Governing Council took a detailed review of the various sports activities organised at the Shrine Board’s Sports Complex during the past one year and lauded these initiatives besides expressing great satisfaction at the appreciable performance of the sportspersons trained and nurtured at the Sports Complex. The GC also congratulated the medal winners at the state and national level championships as well as in the international competitions. The GC also discussed and approved the draft Calendar of Activities of the Sports Complex for 2019-20.
The Governing Council while discussing the modalities for holding Katra Hill Marathon later this year decided to hold, as a prelude to the mega event, road races/ country races at Katra for generating interest and greater participation.
The Governing Council approved the inclusion of Rakesh Kumar, an ace para archer of the Sports Complex and resident of Katra, in the Shrine Board’s Sports Complex Core for providing financial support to him.
It is pertinent to mention that Rakesh Kumar has performed commendably in the Para Asian Games and World Ranking Para Archery Championship. He is also being groomed for participation in Tokyo Olympics, 2020.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Bhan, emphasised the need for preparing a database of sportspersons and coaches for specialised trainings in various disciplines so that the sports activities get major boost in the area. He said that the four identified sports viz. Archery, Shooting, Basketball and Athletics need to be given the required focus for producing the sportspersons of national standards for getting the desired results.
He also underscored the need for having a 400 metre athletics track in the area, adding that the possibilities have to be explored in the right earnest to have this facility. The Governing Council also decided to include Kabaddi as its priority sport.
The Governing Council also held discussion and viewed the detailed abstract of architectural and structural design for construction of a multipurpose hall with a provision for Indoor Badminton Courts at the Sports Complex.
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