CHENNAI: MOP Vaishnav College for Women won the overall women’s crown in the 54th Dr Sir AL Mudaliar Golden Jubilee Commemoration Athletic Meet, organised by University of Madras, held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. What was special about the victory was that the college bagged the Sivanthi Adityan Rolling Trophy for the 18th consecutive year, a unique feat in itself. The team secured 14 gold, 10 silver and six bronze medals.
The college’s clear policy for sports quota admission and sensible selection of sportspersons in various disciplines has helped it become a force to reckon in both indoor and outdoor sports. “The fact that we’ve been winning the Dr ALM meet regularly shows the consistency of our athletes. It is an awesome feat that our athletes have had for 18 years, managing to be on top and win year after year,” said A Amutha Suman Kumar, director of Physical Education of MOP.
The manner in which the college has managed to maintain the sporting culture and churn out athletes year after year is impressive. Finding girls to fill the void left by former students, training them and making them good enough to have a podium finish is not an ordinary task.
“The reason for the team’s success is nothing but hard work, hard work and hard work! If you look at Madras University colleges, each college is specialised in one discipline. So our girls trained well before the event and we are proud of their success,” added Amutha.
The college encourages girls to take part in all sports without compromising on their studies. All the sport-related activities are encouraged. Recently, the Hockey World Cup Trophy, currently underway in Odisha, was brought to the city on a goodwill tour and the college ensured that it was received by the students with great fanfare.
“Our principal Lalitha Balakrishnan’s encouragement, backing from the management and faculty members, support and good coaching from the PT department has ensured a healthy atmosphere for the students to excel,” insisted Amutha, a former athlete herself.
At the meet, some of the notable performers were Divya Shandilya (1st place in hammer throw), Mokavi M (1st in 5km walk), D Latha (half-marathon winner), Kavitha V (1500 mts winner), Nandhini, Akshaya, Rithika, Sri Vidya (1st in 4X100mts relay), Babisha (triple jump & long jump) who set meet records. Dhivya J (2nd place in 4X100m hurdles) also managed to better the meet record. “We are good in sprints and jumps in general. The reason for bagging so many medals and creating new marks is because our athletes trust and believe in our coaches and training methods,” said Amutha. The next test for this talented bunch is the All-India University Games.