MUMBAI: The Indian Federation of Sports Gaming (IFSG) Wednesday kicked off a programme focused on identifying and promoting athletes in the age group of 14 to 21 in non-mainstream sports like archery, golf, sailing, squash, swimming and tennis from across India.
The athlete support programme – ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ (SOT) – had legendary boxer MC Mary Kom and veteran cricket administrator Prof Ratnakar Shetty as chief guests at the launch function.
SOT has been put together in association with fantasy sports platform Dream11 and sports development firm GoSports Foundation.
So far, 13 athletes have been selected out of a total of 168 entries, for which Dream11 Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Dream11 and primary contributor to this programme, has pledged Rs 30 million.
“There is a growing pool of talented non-mainstream sportspersons, especially in the individual sports category, who are coming out of the shadows and gaining accolades at national and international events. Our programme is designed to help them prepare for all major tournament in their line of sport,” moneycontrol.com quotes Harsh Jain, chairperson, IFSG as having said.
“SOT will provide the much-needed focus and propulsion to athletes in the age group of 14 to 21 across non-mainstream sports that haven’t been avidly promoted in the past in India such as squash, swimming, sailing, tennis and golf. This age group witnesses a high rate of athlete dropouts during their transition from a junior to senior level player. IFSG aims to bridge this gap and provide support to young athletes who have the potential to compete in the national and international arena,” Jain added.
IFSG plans to continue the annual support agenda on an ongoing basis.
