Empower girls in rural India to be Champions

MANN DESHI FOUNDATION CHAMPIONSHIP PROGRAM

The objective of the Mann Deshi foundation’s Champions program has always been to help majorities of young women athletes from which most of them are belong to NT/ SC/OBC/STs communities. Its main focus is on Improving their achievement in sports and build a positive self-image in order to boost their confidence. Mann Deshi foundation established Program training centers including Mann Deshi Champions center, Sanas ground, Nasik Government Sports School, Balewadi Sports School, etc. these centers provide training in track, wrestling, swimming, badminton, field hockey. Also, these centers prepare their participants for the competition through physical fitness regimens and personal development workshops.  

THE STANDARD CURRICULUM OF THE PROGRAM-

The standard curriculum of this program is based on physical sports-related training. The training is held for 3 to 5 hours, including expert sessions and visits from guest coaches from the sports industry, individual-based sports training, field trips, and opportunities to speak on the Mann Deshi Community Radio. The program provides nutritious meals, nutrition sessions, proteins, accommodations, facilities, including Gym, a Swimming pool, a 400m track, a Wrestling area, physiotherapy. Many athletes enrolled in our Championship program. Among those enrolled, many athletes compete at the National and International levels.

The wrestling program consists of a Total of in-person 20 wrestling sessions by coach Hangeshwar and coach Mahaling. It is divided into two sessions, Morning and evening, two hours each. There is a Segregation of athletes for upcoming year’s competitions—athlete Harshad endurance and performance check. In August, we will be sending him to Chatrashal stadium in Delhi. 

The wrestling program for Female athletes started in person after a long break of covid. The first two weeks of the training focused on physical fitness and endurance. During these sessions, we provide nutrition and protein to all the athletes daily. Due to the times of COVID-19, we started conducting online workshops through the Zoom platform. We conducted a session of Chakravarti mam based on nutrition, a session of Paresh sir regarding conditioning and gym, then Kiran sir conducted a session for a confidence booster

Wrestling: Total in-person 20 wrestling sessions by coach Hangeshwar, coach Mahaling, and coach Reema. Morning and evening are two and half hours each—athlete Prasad Pukales's assessment and planning of the following year’s University Competitions. Athlete Kiran Bhagat came back from Delhi for a week of rest. Zoom and in-person session with coach Paresh for gym and conditioning.  In our wrestling program, Coach Reema and Hangeshwar arranged a small scouting camp for female scout wrestlers. New athletes added for athlete program: athlete Mumtaj’s workout planning and addition of heavyweights. Also, we organized Two Zoom sessions with the conditioning coach from Pune, Coach Arshad, three zoom sessions with other national athletes, and a Zoom session with Coach Paresh.

Track and Field:

We arranged 18 in-person sessions of all running and field events by coach Babar, coach Dhula, and coach Virkar in the morning and the evening, three hours each. We observed an increase in the number of athletes due to relaxation in the lockdown. Vaishnavi 400m relay athlete came for the practice after a long covid gap. Head coach Justin planned the workout for the next two months for athletes Dada and Shivani. Mann Deshi Champions started the village bus service to pick up all the athletes from their respective village

In our Track and Field program, we conduct 18 in-person sessions for all running and field events by coach Babar, coach Dhula, and coach Virkar. The training for this is also divided into two sessions i. e—morning and Evening sessions, each for three hours. Due to the relaxation in the regulations of lockdown, there is an increase in the number of athletes.

Vaishnavi, a 400m relay athlete, came for the practice after a long covid gap.  Conditioning and gym, Zoom session with Nutritionist Ms. Chakravarti. Head coach Justin planned the workout for the next two months for athletes Dada and Shivani. We arranged a zoom session with coach Justin per week, an A-Zoom session of Paresh sir for conditioning and gym, Zoom session with Nutritionist Ms. Chakravarti.

Then, we conducted 22 in-person sessions for all running and field events by coach Babar, coach Dhula, and coach Virkar in the morning and evening, three hours each. There is an increase in the number of athletes. Sneha, the hammer throw athlete, came for the practice after a long covid gap. Head coach Justin collected videos of all the athletes and, over a call, corrected the positions. Also, we arranged Zoom and in-person sessions with coach Paresh for gym and conditioning. Foundation started two buses service to pick up all the athletes from their respective villages.

SWIMMING 

In our swimming program, there are a total of 10 in-person sessions in July due to the lockdown. Coach Savita is in charge of training national athlete Balu for next year’s competition. Coach Savita also arranged a scouting session in July where she has enrolled new athletes for swimming. 

FIELD HOCKEY-

Kajal and Ashwini were at the Champions center last year; Kajal plans to leave for the Haryana academy late August. Every day Kajal and Ashwini are working on their hockey skill-set and muscle building with the coach Paresh over a zoom call and in-person. Zoom session of Chakravarti mam for nutrition, Zoom session of Paresh sir for conditioning and gym.

SUCCESS 

• Sneha is Selected for the Olympic trials; Sneha also represented India in 2017 for the Hammer Throw. 
• Aditi won the gold medal in the Junior national championship for Discuss Throw
• Sudeshna has been selected for the India Camp for 100/200 m and also won gold and silver at the nationals

SUCCESS STORY

Aditi belongs to a small taluka of Maharashtra. Her father is passionate about sports since he is a retired army soldier. Her father used to play Basketball. she is trying to get qualified for the World Youth Championship. For the last two years, she has been training with the Mann Deshi Champions program. Aditi is a hardworking athlete who inspires to win a medal in the future Olympics. On several occasions in the state championships, Aditi has her record, and despite being under 18, Aditi has participated in the open age group and won medals. Aditi has won awards in double digits. At that moment, Aditi went to Haryana for training.

Last year due to covid, she could not participate in competitions but worked hard, and she could receive the required training, equipment, and adequate diet. In July, Aditi won the gold medal at the Junior national athletics championship. 

In India, we are facing a very challenging time. We are under a strict lockdown, and everyday covid numbers in India are increasing; as we speak, we are over 400,000 per day. Covid positive patients cannot find oxygen beds, medicines, and CT scans, especially in the rural areas, Grimm, and many people are losing their loved ones.

In this situation at Mann Deshi Champions, we had provided home delivery nutritious food to our athletes and zoom sessions on sports and education.

A conditioning routine can help athletes boost and maintain immunity, minimize the effects of detraining, facilitate the return to a routine, and improve tactical knowledge. In addition, attention to athletes' mental health and dietary habits is needed in this period of lockdown. Strength and conditioning professionals, teams, and athletes who are able to adopt these measures will experience less difficulty when returning to their normal training and competition routines.

During the Lockdown ZOOM SESSIONS

Hamid: Importance of coaching and Mentorship in Sports

Mr. Hamid, a national gold medalist in Basketball and sports consultant for Basketball and Wrestling, spoke about the importance of mentorship, the Importance of discipline in your daily life, respect to your coach and teachers

Anurag:  Educational

Mr. Anurag spoke about Maharashtra's history, from Sindhudurg fort to all over the Western Ghats, Fort Zanjira, and the Maratha emperor's Importance in the region to Ajanta Ellora caves.

Harsh: English speaking course for all the students over a zoom session. Harsh shared the story with all the students in English and then told them to say the same story back to all the students. Harsh gave insights into how to speak English quickly by reading comic books and watching movies.

Justin:

Regular bi-weekly coaching for middle-distance and long-distance athletes from International coach Justin woods via zoom call. Justin prepares workout plans and mentorship for the runners.

In-person Guest Visit: Before the lockdown December to Feb

Unfortunately, due to the covid19 norms, we were managed to do only two in-person guest visit in March 2021

Hangeshwar: Wrestling

Mr. Hangeshwar spoke to all the girls about the history of wrestling, how wrestling traditionally started in Maharashtra, the Olympic history of wrestling, the benefit of exercises, information on the wrestling leagues.

Sriram: Sports athlete and CISF forces employee

Mr. Sriram took the effort to coach our athletes for over a month in track and field.  Since Mr. Sriram is a record holder in the police meets in 1500 m, he guided them about cutting down the timing while running; he taught them about injuries, warm-ups, and proper techniques.

Abhishek: Abhishek is a long-distance triathlete and Ultraman. Abhishek, sir, coached some of our long-distance runners; he visited Mann Deshi for two days.

Aparna: Aparna is a commonwealth medalist, Olympian, and Arjuna awardee. I visited Mann Deshi and mentored all our elite athletes. Aparna was in Mann Deshi for two days.