Pvt School Association organises football tourney in B’la to tackle drug abuse, instil sportsmanship in students

Baramulla, Sep 23: In order to tackle the “rising drug abuse” among the student community and to instill a positive approach among them towards the learning process, the Private School Association, Baramulla kick-started a U-16 inter-school football tourney here in Baramulla.
Around 11 teams from various schools from north Kashmir’s Baramulla district are participating in the tournament and is being played at Delhi Public School Baramulla ground.
The organisers of the tourney said that due to the COVID epidemic, a huge gap was witnessed between students, teachers and parents.
“After the pandemic, we are witnessing that the students are lacking that positive approach towards school. Continuous online classes made them addicted to electronic gadgets, social media and they almost forgot to venture out and take part in sports activities,” the organizers said.
While talking to Rising Kashmir Shakir Ashraf, the Managing Director of Sanctorum School and the brain behind this tournament said that parts of north Kashmir are witnessing a steep rise in substance abuse and sports is a great factor to tackle the menace.
“Drug addiction among youth is a main concern besides the lack of interest in the learning process. The main motive of organising the sports activities and involving as much as students is to tackle these issues that our society is facing right now,” Shakir added.
Shakir believes that such sports events will surely make the student community disciplined and physically fit.
“Drug addiction has become a nuisance for our society and sports can play a vital role to keep youth away from drug abuse. Besides that our district has a lot of potential but they need platforms at grassroot level for proper scouting so that they can be nurtured properly for the future,” he added.
While sharing his plan, Shakir said that he took Vice Chairperson SRM Welkin BaseemaAijaz on board and organized a night exhibition match between SRM Welkin and Sanctorum at Kushal Stadium Sopore.
“To our surprise, parents of the students rushed to the stadium to support their favourite team and watch their kids playing. Even women from the locality also attended that exhibition match. That was a game changing match actually and other schools approached us and we decided for the Inter School Football Tournament,” he added.
The slogan of the tournament is ‘Choose Sports over Drugs’ with a great support from the President Industrial Estate SoporeJavid Ahmad.
“Schools are eagerly waiting for the next sports event now and we will not stop here. We are planning to organize other sports tournaments. And this time more schools are coming forward and that’s a positive sign actually,” he added.
The organisers said that organising the football tournament is also a part of NashaMukt Campaign and the UT and district administration to recognise the initiatives.
“Despite inviting the district administration, we didn’t witness their participation in our initiatives. Their presence for a while will make a difference. We should not differ between private and government institutions as such sports events are for the good of society,” the organizers added.