Katra, February 27: 9th Meeting of the Governing Council of the Shrine Board’s Sports Complex was held here on Monday at Spiritual Growth Centre, Katra presided over by Dr. Ashok Bhan, Member Shrine Board and Chairman of the Governing Council of the Sports Complex, which was attended by Anshul Garg, Chief Executive Officer, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board; Navneet Singh, Additional CEO; Mahesh Sharma, FA/Chief Accounts Officer; Vipin Bhagat, Asstt. CEO, SMVDSB; and all members of Governing Council including newly inducted who are also a prominent sports person namely Sanjeeva Singh, former International Archer(Arjuna/Dronacharya Awardee); Krupali Singh, National Gymnastics Coach (Arjuna Awardee); Kuldeep Handoo, eminent Wushu player and National Coach (Dronacharya Awardee); Lalita Sharma, Executive Director (SAI, Sonipat), Ranjeet Kalra, Deputy Director (UGC-HRDC) and Shweta Choudhary, International Shooter.
The Chairman Governing Council while welcoming the members of the reconstituted Governing Council complimented the efforts put-in by former members and lauded their commitment and valuable contributions and wishes that with the induction of formidable team rich in experience in council help in new directions and best practices at the SMVDSB Sports Complex.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Bhan dwelt on the aims and objectives of setting up of the Sports Complex, Katra and the mandate of the Governing Council. He observed that SMVDSB Sports Complex should identify the talent in the identified key sports by training and grooming them so that they could excel and bring laurels in sports events held at various levels. Besides, underscored to conduct GC meetings after an interval of six months so as to monitor the progress for easier goal setting. The Chairman also directed to increase the membership in the SMVD Sports Complex so as to meet the objectives for setting up the Sports Complex.
The new members of the GC put forth several suggestions for making the Shrine Board’s Sports Complex a hub of sports and games activities and coaching facilities so that the sports persons trained and mentored at this Complex win medals at the national and international level competitions in large numbers in the coming time.
The meeting took 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 besides, identifying sporting talent and organizing specialized coaching camps at the Sports Complex.
The Governing Council (GC) took a detailed review of various sports activities being organized at the Shrine Board’s Sports Complex since the last meeting held in 2021 and lauded initiatives taken in the intervening period besides, expressing great satisfaction over the appreciable performance of the sports persons trained and nurtured at the Sports Complex. The GC also congratulated the medal winners at the state and national level championships.
While reviewing the annual calendar of sports activities for the next financial year, the Governing Council decided to reorient the calendar activities of the Sports Complex for 2023-24 by organizing various mega sports events at Katra, which include ‘Katra Hill Marathon’ later this year preferably in the months of October-November, 2023 in collaboration with Jammu and Kashmir Police and Army Personnel with the target participation of about 1000 persons for generating interest and greater participation. The GC also directed to organize sports activities at SMVDSB Sports Complex once in a month preferably on Sunday for students of Katra and adjoining areas with a view to catch them at earlier stages from April in order to search the sports talent in Reasi and its surrounding areas to develop them into competitive athletes so that the students could be imparted specialized coaching to groom them for participation in various national and international competitions. The meeting also deliberated on holding the Archery championship at the Sports Complex in the coming months.
The meeting also deliberated and approved proposals for providing financial support to some of the talented players of the area having adequate potential to make a mark in varied sports disciplines. The Chairman said that the identified sports viz. Archery, Shooting, Judo, Wushu and Athletics need to be given the required focus for producing the sportspersons of national standards for getting the desired results.
The GC observed that in order to enhance the performance level of the sports persons being nurtured at SMVDSB Sports Complex there is a requirement of Sports Psychologist and Biomechanics on regular intervals as to learn and to cope up with the pressure of competitions and to enhance Sports performance.
The Governing Council also held discussion and viewed the detailed abstract of architectural and structural design for creation of a multipurpose indoor hall climatically suited for Katra region with a provision for Indoor Badminton, Judo and Wushu at the Sports Complex. The Members of the Governing Council put forth several suggestions and Lalita Sharma offered to provide the services of an expert who will have spot visit and after inspection shall render consultancy in this regard.
The GC observed that SMVDSB Sports Complex, which is already accredited with Khelo India Talent Development in the Archery (Boys & Girls) Discipline from 2021can be upgraded from the Non-Residential Category to the Residential category with an aim to create an ecosystem and promotion of excellence in SMVDSB Sports Complex. Noteworthy that the accredited academy will look after the training, boarding and tournament expenses of the athletes.
Before commencement of the meeting, the Governing Council members visited the Sports Complex and interacted with various sports personnel. They lauded the Shrine Board for putting in place excellent facilities at the Sports Complex and emphasized the need for making the best possible use of the state-of-the-art facilities available.
