Special sports training for tribal students of Tamil Nadu initiated, starting with Kalrayan Hills

In an attempt to inculcate sports culture among tribal children, the Kallakurichi district administration on Sunday, June 26, inaugurated a special sports training session for students at the Ekalavya tribal welfare school in Kalrayan Hills.

According to official sources, about 150 students will be trained for free in athletics including long jump, shot put, and relay; rope gymnastics; volleyball; kabbadi; and in traditional sports like mallakhamb for the next 10 days. This will be followed by giving the students regular practice throughout the current academic year.

As coaches will find it difficult to come to the hills from Kallakurichi everyday due to the lack of transport facilities, they will be provided accommodation over the course of the 10-day training, official sources said.

District Collector PN Sridhar said, "To compensate for the limited opportunities that the Ekalavya school students get, the administration has come up with a few plans to empower and improve their skills. The aim of this training is to equip tribal students at Kalrayan Hills with skills in various games and make them participate in State, national and international sports tournaments. The costs for using equipment and other training materials will also be free. They will be further given support to participate in tournaments."

A Class V girl student, who is a resident of Vellimalai village, said, "I live in the Vellimalai area and, as girls, most of us go home after school. As our parents are scared of our security in the evening, we have no chance to practise sports regularly. The special training will help us start learning a game and train better.