India Cup

34 National campers from Schools India Cup aiming to take the big leap

Dehradun, June 17, 2018: As many as 34 young cricketers from across India are undergoing a seven-day training under ace cricket coach, Sanjay Bhardwaj at the Schools India Cup National camp which kick-started here at the SelaQui International School, today. Last year, Suraj Vashist, Priyansh Arya and Sumit Chikara from New Delhi, these three, National campers from the Schools India Cup made the selection grades at the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy.

An initiative of the School Sports Promotion Foundation in collaboration with Sports Authority of India, the Schools India Cup is the biggest talent hunt conducted in five disciplines, namely, athletics, football, cricket, volleyball and basketball, to increase sports participation in schools, identify future champions and nurture them at school-based Centre of Excellence with the help of sports experts and managers. The Schools India Cup model focuses on providing a dynamic sports eco-system to the student-athletes in school, while also nurturing them with quality education for their holistic growth.

Sanjay Bhardwaj, acclaimed coach and mentor to former India captain, Gautam Gambhir and more than half-a-dozen international cricketers, will be honing the skills of these 40 young cricketers at the week-long National camp who were selected out of the Schools India Cup cricket tournament for under-15, held earlier this year in January.

On this occasion, Mr. Kuldeep Kumar, Uttarakhand Pradesh Minister, BJP and ‘Chief Guest’ at the opening of the National camp for the young hopefuls, said, “The base level of any state or country needs to be strong to produce results at the highest level. SSPF’s Schools India Cup will lend a major boost to the existing initiatives being taken in the State of Uttarakhand to promote and encourage our schools to come forward and participate in sports. I congratulate SSPF and Mr Bharadwaj for taking this initiative to promote grass root sports and provide special training at the National camp.”

On this occasion, Dr Colonel Atul Bhandari, Senior Master, Selaqui International, Dehradun said. “The National Talent Search and Nurture programme in collaboration with SAI, will give our youth more opportunities to play sports at all levels.”

On this occasion, Mr Avatar Singh, coach and mentor to Delhi Daredevils big hitter Rishabh Pant said, “The National Talent Search and Nurture programme in collaboration with SAI, will give our youth more opportunities to play sports at all levels. Grass root sports is extremely important to any developing sports nation. It is a foundation for sport for life and for high-performance sports but more significantly, it will create tremendous value and develop more talent for the country in the times to come.”

On this occasion, Mr Sanjay Bhardwaj, Technical Director of Schools India Cup-Season 3, said, “Today, education is a vital component for nurturing a career in sports. It’s a struggle to get the right career guidance and support for sports at the school level, but the Schools India Cup is transforming the landscape for budding talent and providing a dedicated support system under one roof. I’m expecting 10,000 schools to participate in the Schools India Cup- Season 3, and I hope to groom more youngsters this time.”

Mr Bhardwaj also announced that the online registration for Schools India Cup is open for schools across the country. The Schools India Cup online registrations are open on www.sspf.in For further, queries, contact Helpline No: 8595333222

About SSPF:

School Sports Promotion Foundation (SSPF), is a non-profit philanthropic trust committed to promote a National movement in sports at schools, colleges and universities across India. In collaboration with Sports Authority of India, SSPF launched the National Talent Search and Nurture programme in 2015 to identify sporting talent across sports and nurture them for national and international competitions. The SSPF model for school sports is to encourage maximum participation in sports to all, serve high-performance sports and create a model for providing social and economic safety net to the youth investing their time and energy in sports.

For talent search, SSPF conducts its marquee Schools India Cup for school students in the age category of 10-15 in athletics, volleyball, football, basketball and cricket in a three-tier structure – district, state and National. The top performers in each of these five disciplines are then selected by experts for national camps, and further up, only the finest talent will be selected for Centre of Excellence which will be created in reputed schools, where the young talent will be provided specialised sports training, along with quality education and boarding and lodging, free of cost, up to Class XII.