ONGOLE: The state government aims to produce quality sportspersons by identifying the interests/ niches of people engaged in a particular sport, its popularity and the skills required to play it.
Prospective athletes will be identified at the school level and will be given training and other facilities to hone their skills, said district collector Pola Bhaskar.
The collector attended the ‘42nd Federation Cup Women’s Football tournament 2019’ and the prize distribution ceremony at the DRRM High School grounds on Thursday evening as chief guest.
He expressed his happiness that a national level tournament was organised here, by the Andhra Pradesh Women’s Football Association and the All India Women Football Federation.
He also said that the district administration is making necessary arrangements to organise ‘School Games’ in December.
“Soon the indoor stadium in the city will be put to use. We are making plans to secure more funding in order to organise more sports tournaments in the district. In this connection, we are trying to secure sponsorships from Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD) Board as well as financial support from the State government for improvement of facilities.”
“The state government has granted one stadium for the district and for it, we have earmarked around 18 acre land near Pernamitta village. We have also secured funding for a district-level sports school, and we are searching for adequate land for it in any rural area of the district. We are taking all necessary steps to ensure upliftment of sports in the district,” the collector added.
Teams from Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh participated in the Federation cup tournament and Pola Bhaskar personally congratulated the two finalists-West Bengal and Jharkhand.