Srinagar, Dec 02: The Government of Jammu & Kashmir under LG’s Rolling Trophy is achieving a great feat in providing an impressive platform to thousands of UT-based boys in cricket. More than 40,000 youth have participated in the tournament at various levels across J&K under the sports extravaganza. The mega sports tournament was inaugurated by the Chief Secretary of J&K Dr Arun Kumar Mehta in September.
After completing the trials at the zonal level and the inter-zonal district level, the well-skilled and talented cricketers are representing their native districts in the top-level inter-district tournament.
The final leg of the tournament was inaugurated on Friday at twin south Kashmir districts. Syed Aijaz, ACR Pulwama, was the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony at Sports Stadium Pulwama. DYSSO Pulwama, Noor ul Haq, DYSSO Budgam, Gurmukh Singh and other senior officials of the department were also present.
Speaking on the occasion, Syed Aijaz said, “It really is an honour for the district to host inter-district matches of LG’s Rolling Trophy.” He lavished praise on the LG-led administration for taking such “unique initiatives in channelling energies of the youth through sports”. The tournament is being held at Sports Stadium Pulwama and Sports Field Lelhara in the district. Ganderbal vs Baramulla and Bandipora vs Shopian matches were played at Sports Stadium Pulwama and Sports Field Lelhara respectively.
At another south Kashmir district, Sub-District Magistrate Bhijbehra Abdul Rashid and international cricketer Parvez Rasool witnessed the inaugural match of the final phase of the tournament at Sports Stadium Bijbehara. District Youth Services & Sports Officer (DYSSO) Anantnag Mushtaq Ahmed Pampori, (DYSSO) Kulgam Ghulam Hassan Lone and other senior officials of the department were present. At Anantnag, the scheduled matches are being played at two venues ¬– HSS Bhijbehra and Sports Stadium Mattan.
While expressing his happiness over the grand success of the first phase of the LG’s Rolling Trophy, Sub-District Magistrate congratulated the Department of Youth Services & Sports for organising such tournaments saying it helps the society as a whole to keep youth away from bad habits. “Sports participation can play an important and positive role in the health and development of children and youth. One area that has recently been receiving greater attention is the role that sports participation might play in preventing drug and alcohol use among youth,” he said.
Parvez Rasool boosted the morale of the players by delivering a motivational speech on the occasion. Simultaneously, at Sports Stadium Mattan, the inaugural ceremony was attended by Block Development Council Chairman Abdul Rashid. The inaugural match was played between District Pulwama and Srinagar at Bijbehara while District Kulgam and Kupwara locked horns at Sports Stadium Mattan.
