On 18th of January 2018, Centre for Social Research conducted District Level Gymnastics and Volleyball Competitions at the Jahara Bag Stadium, Jhajjar under the Sports for Girls Initiative. Under the leadership of Dr. Manasi Mishra from Centre for Social Research, the two coaches Jyoti (Gymnastics) and Poonam (Volleyball) organized competitions for their respective sports at the same time. While the Volleyball event was held between 4 teams of 10 players each, the Gymnastics event was held according to age groups from under 11 to over 13 years.
The events were evident of the saying- “Sports flows in the blood of girls of Haryana”. The young girls stunned their spectators with high skills and smooth performance. The fact these girls were trained by women coaches, shows that sports for girls can truly be an initiative that delivers in the ground. Despite what is said about Haryana being an unfavorable place for girls and women to prosper, parents of these girls came out in huge numbers to watch their daughters perform, thus shattering all misconceptions.
The day ended with 3 positions for the Volleyball event as well as 3 positions for each segment of the Gymnastics event. In the Volleyball event, Rajiv Gandhi Stadium secured the first position, Dighal Coaching Centre secured second position and Dhandhlan School secured 3rd position. In the Gymnastics under 11 event Anshika secured the first spot, and Anjali and Hansika secured second and third spots respectively. In the Under 13 Gymnastics event Neelam was first, Soni came second, and Tamanna secured third position. The Senior Girls Segment of the Gymnastics event saw Varsha win the first position, while Ritu was second, and Himanshi Third. Two players of the day, Varsha (Gymnastics) and Nisha (Volleyball) were commemorated with scholarships of Rs. 2000 by Dr. Manasi Mishra. These girls, coming from difficult financial backgrounds, have defied all societal stigmas and emerged as inspiration for other girls to engage in sports.
At the end of the day’s event all young girls, their parents and coaches had one important message- initiatives such as these can make a huge difference in gender biased societies, and can significantly improve the position of women in society.
Our #sport for #girls program, as part of #BetiBachaoBetiPadhao, aims to empower girls of #Haryana through various sports. Here, one of our participants shares her experiences of a recent competition. @manasimishra333 @ranjanakumari #NationalGirlChildDay #WednesdayWisdom pic.twitter.com/l1w2mDTuUQ
— CSR (@CSR_India) January 24, 2018
