By Prabhat Sinha | Founder
Mann Deshi Champions aims to provide access to sports to rural children, especially girls. We provide the necessary training and facilities to rural youth so that they can compete at the highest level and become financially independent. We strongly believe in using sport as a medium to enable a sense of dignity and self-worth amongst youth, especially girls in rural areas.
WRESTLING
TRACK AND FIELD
SUCCESS STORY
We are proud to announce that two Mann Deshi Champions, Kajal and Ashwini competed as part of the Indian Women's U-23 Hockey Team at the 5 Nations tournament 2022, Dublin, Ireland, and brought home Silver Medals!!
Kajal is the fifth child in a very poor family of sugarcane cutting laborers.She began her journey at the Mann Deshi Centre when she was around 7 years of age. A natural athlete, it wasn’t long after hard for her to get selected for the state hockey training center. Kajal then trained under the state hockey coach and represented Maharashtra. She is a prominent striker in the team on account of her fast-paced skills.
She has since been selected for the national camp in Haryana and then eventually to the next camp in Bangalore and thereafter was one of 33 participants to be selected to play India junior hockey, in an international team. Kajal’s journey has been anything but linear. She belongs to an orthodox family and would have been married off at an early age but for her sporting abilities. We are looking forward to seeing Kajal sport the Tricolor and play for the country in the near future.
Ashwini belongs to a small village called Dhuldev in the drought-hit Mann region of Maharashtra. Her family stays in a mud house built across the fields, slightly away from the village. A natural athlete, she was first selected for the state training Centre, and eventually for the Maharashtra junior hockey team. Ashwini comes from a humble background and belongs to a nomadic caste. She has had to fight several social taboos to avoid being married off before the age of 18, which is the norm in the village she belongs to.
Mann Deshi Champions provides sports game skills and socio-emotional tools that allow our athletes to beat the odds and have control over their lives. The program does so by teaching self-efficacy through a structured sports curriculum, we also conduct co-ed programs for field hockey and wrestling where there is an opportunity to bridge the gender gap and fight prejudice. This allows us to take steps toward gender equality in sports and more generally in society, improving the socio economic status of women. The program’s goal is to empower young girls and boys to make their own decisions, in spite of obstacles and social norms which may stand in their way. Mann Deshi Champions Elite Athlete provides an opportunity to play sports, compete, win, earn income and live a joyful life for the children of underprivileged communities.
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