Bhubaneswar, March 15: With an aim to develop a robust culture for swimming and produce world-class swimmers from the state, JSW Sports in collaboration with the Odisha Sports and Youth Services Department on Monday announced the launch of a comprehensive Grassroot Programme scheduled to commence from April 1.
The Grassroots Swim Programme will be rolled out in eight locations – Bhubaneshwar, Sambalpur, Balangir, Boudh, Sonepur, Angul, Ganjam and Mayurbhanj under the umbrella of Odisha Government’s pact with JSW Sports to create a High-performance Centre and provide international standard coaching in the State.
Twenty coaches including two regional heads have been selected by JSW Sports for these eight locations. To equip these coaches with international standards of training swimmers, JSW Sports in collaboration with DSYS also conducted a four-day intensive coaching program which concluded today at KIIT University.
The coaches’ course facilitated by Swimming Matters was conducted by Olympian and AUSTSWIM Presenter Nisha Millet who represented India at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The course included a combination of both theoretical modules and supervised training (practical sessions). The 20 Coaches selected for the Grassroots Program, once certified, will hold the globally-recognized AUSTSWIM license to teach swimming.
“This is a very comprehensive program designed by the experts from JSW Sports with whom the Odisha State Government has signed a MoU to develop High-Performance Centre for swimming in the State,” said Sports & Youth Services Department Special Secretary Vineel Krishna.
Elaborating on the strategic plan to develop swimming in Odisha, Rushdee Warley, CEO of the High Performance Centre established by the JSW Group, said, “This is the start of a range of activities we are planning in partnership with the Odisha Government to develop a high performance ecosystem for aquatic sports in the state. The focus will be on starting at the grassroots, teaching a life-skill and identifying talented swimmers early, who can then be transitioned through the ranks of our structured High Performance system for the sport.”
