Community Sports Program Summer Camp participants went head to head in Summer Camp Competition

Pro Sport Development (PSD) held a summer sports camp with a couple of its centres in Bhubaneswar, as part of the Community Sports Program, supported by Tata Trusts. The summer camp, over a period of six weeks starting from 1 May to 14 June, provided an opportunity for the children to be active, learn various values and have fun throughout the summer by participating in sport and physical activities. To mark the end of the summer camp, PSD decided to organise an event where children from different centres could compete with each other in some of the games from the summer camp.

110 children (34% being girls) between classes 4-8 from three centres, namely Beena Bharati Vidya Mandir (BBCM), Saraswati Sishu Mandir (SSM) and Vivekananda Siksha Kendra (VSK), participated in the event held on 24 June at Beena Bharati Vidya Mandir. These children competed in three games:  50m x 4m relay, circle dodgeball and continuous cricket. All three games had teams comprising a mix of boys and girls. Though the games saw stiff competition from teams from all three centres, they were played in a sporting spirit. Moreover, some of the focus values of the summer camp, including teamwork, leadership and camaraderie, were on display by the children during the event, along with lots of energy, enthusiasm and respect for opponents.  

This event, supported by Tata Trusts, gave many of the children a platform to travel outside their community to compete and interact with children of their age from other schools. Simran Swain of class 8 from BBVM, who was part of the team that won the relay, said “I was very happy to be able to participate in this event. Previously I had never played with or against students of other schools. I enjoyed the relay race. Me and my teammates had to work hard and we were rewarded with victory”.

Former international powerlifter and weightlifter Ranu Mohanty was the chief guest for the event, and distributed the prizes to the children, along with motivating them by asking them to ensure their continued participation in sports and physical activity. Given the success of the Summer Camp Competition we look forward to greater participation of the children from various centres for the regular programme starting in July, in association with Tata Trusts.

[This article has been edited by the Operating Team.]