PANAJI: The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar winner, Lakshya Institute, launched “One Dream, One Lakshya” (ODOL) in partnership with Dream Sports Foundation (DSF), the philanthropic arm of Dream Sports, to support seven promising athletes across five sports, says a press release.
The ODOL programme is designed to identify and provide holistic and comprehensive support to potential Indian Olympians on their journey to win laurels for the country through quality coaching, financial aid, training equipment, national and international tournament exposures. The programme was inaugurated in the presence of Sunder Iyer, Hon. Sec. Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association, and Kiran Vivekananda, Chief Policy Officer at Dream Sports & Head at Dream Sports Foundation.
Through this partnership, DSF, which has supported Indian athletes like Nethra Kumanan to reach the Tokyo Olympics, and Lakshya Institute will provide intensive training for the Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 Olympics to all the selected athletes among the five sports disciplines, namely shooting, boxing, wrestling, badminton and table tennis.
ATHLETES SELECTED FOR ‘ODOL‘
Maharashtra’s Nupur Patil (19) in Shooting 10m air-rifle category
Maharashtra’s Devika Ghorpade (16) in Boxing 50Kg category
Maharashtra’s Tara Shah (16) in Badminton singles category
Telangana’s Sreeja Akula (22) in Table Tennis singles category
Telangana’s Riya Habbu (17) in Badminton singles category
Haryana’s Nupur Sheoran (22) in Boxing 75Kg category
Haryana’s Sunil Kumar (22) in Greco-Roman Wrestling 87Kg category
Talking about the impact of the partnership with the Dream Sports Foundation, Swastik Sirsikar, Vice-President of Lakshya Foundation, said: “In a year where most corporates are withdrawing CSR support to sports, we are happy that Dream Sports Foundation has come forward to support Lakshya through the unique programme, ‘One Dream, One Lakshya’. We hope that this long term vision will surely see many more Indian players achieve their best and win medals for the country in the 2024 and 2028 Olympics. I’m sure we will be able to support many more players under this partnership in the coming years.”
Speaking about the programme, Kiran Vivekananda, Chief Policy Officer at Dream Sports & Head at Dream Sports Foundation, said: “The pandemic has impeded basic training for many talented athletes. However, through collaborations between different not-for-profit sports organisations, we are ensuring that our athletes continue training and winning accolades for India. Our programme, ODOL, will provide the necessary support to help promising young athletes to reach their full potential and represent India on a global stage.”
Recently, Dream Sports Foundation partnered with Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation (MKRBF) and Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools (BBFS) to support talented and budding athletes in training, educational and financial assistance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, DSF also supported over 3500 beneficiaries from the sports industry impacted by the crisis as part of the ongoing ‘Back on Track’ initiative. Since its inception, DSF has reached over 6000 sports beneficiaries in India.
