Reliance Foundation Youth Sports: Highlights of the Year

It’s the last chapter of the year and as we set the stage for the new year, let’s take a moment to rewind back to the learnings from the current year. We deeply missed seeing our footballers and track & field athletes in action due to the COVID restrictions on sporting tournaments. However, we utilised the time to solidify our athletes’ fundamentals and get them ready to excel at various stages. As we approach the end of the year, we reminisce back on our achievements of the year.

It’s the last chapter of the year and as we set the stage for the new year, let’s take a moment to rewind back to the learnings from the current year.  We deeply missed seeing our footballers and track & field athletes in action due to the COVID restrictions on sporting tournaments. However, we utilised the time to solidify our athletes’ fundamentals and get them ready to excel at various stages. As we approach the end of the year, we reminisce back on our achievements of the year.

Here are some of our highlights from the past year!

JANUARY

  • Expert online workshop conducted by Reliance Foundation Youth Sports (RFYS) & Association of Indian Football Coaches (AIFC):

RFYS and AIFC conducted an online workshop for coaches in the country, developing over 500 football coaches from around 100 cities across 4 different zones in the country. The webinar series conducted for 100+ hours. The series covered different topics targeted for athletes and coaches right from the scouting to training, including injury management and catering to physiological and psychological needs.

 

FEBRUARY

  • RFYS Online Education Programme:

We conducted over 50 webinars as part of our Online Education Program for aspiring players and coaches, which engaged over 11,000 attendees across India and registered over 4500 session minutes. Experts from RFYC, UKESG, Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital, RF Odisha Athletics HPC, and various Hero ISL clubs such as Kerala Blasters FC, Mumbai City FC, ATK Mohun Bagan, and North East United FC were on the panel for these webinars.

MARCH

  • UK Elite Sports Group (UKESG) & RFYS to resume training:

RFYS & UKESG partnered up as part of the Online Education Programme to train select football coaches and young athletes on how to resume training post lockdown in a phased manner.

  • RF Athlete - Ridhi Phor shines at the national stage:

Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Ridhi Phor, an RF Elite athlete competed at the Olympic Qualifiers in Pune. Leandi van Zyl and Maithili Bhuptani from the Sport Science and Medicine team from Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital were present to support her quest. Following this event, she went on to win the 41st Junior National Archery Championships.

 

APRIL

  • RF Athlete Jhilli Dalabehera wins the Asian Championships:

Jhilli Dalabehera won the Weightlifting Championships Tashkent 2020 in the Women’s 45kg division. She lifted 69kg in the snatch and followed that up by 88kg in clean jerk for a total of 157kg.

 

  • Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program Saturday Mornings:

As a part of the program, NBA & WNBA stars conducted online workshops for basketball aspirants across the country. Legends such as Ticha Penicheiro, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Princepal Singh, Ebony Hoffman, Kendall Gill, were a part of the program.

 

MAY

  • RF Athlete, Achinta Sheuli wins silver at the IWF Junior World Championships:

RF Athlete Achinta Sheuli became the first-ever Indian male to win a silver medal at the IWF Junior World Championships. He also achieved his then personal best of a whopping 313kg to achieve this feat!

 

JUNE

The 12-week live Athletics Development Series, which is the first of its kind, was organised by Reliance Foundation Youth Sports (RFYS) in partnership with the Odisha Government and is accessible to Physical Education teachers, students, coaches, and athletes from all across India. Its primary objective was to provide aspiring athletes, coaches, and sports science enthusiasts from educational institutions with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interact with domain experts on training, nutrition, sports psychology, rest, and recovery - a combination of several factors required for optimal high-performance athletic training.

  • RF Sports Physiotherapist monitored recovery sessions for Tokyo Olympian, Kamalpreet Kaur:

RF Physio Nitya Marwaha closely monitored Kamalpreet Kaur, who had broken her own national record at The Indian Grand Prix and then went on to compete at the Tokyo Olympics.

 

JULY

  • Football Trials went virtual with the use of AI technology for scouting:

Reliance Foundation Young Champs (RFYC) partnered with AiScout to conduct virtual football trials to scout budding football players from across the country for their chance to be a part of India’s top football academy.

  • RF Sports Physiotherapist, Simoni Shah assists 400m sprinter, Revathi Veeramani to post-recovery success:

Revathi Veeramani who was struck by a knee injury was provided assistance through RF Physio Simoni Shah. She then came back to achieve her PB of 53.55s during the trials for Tokyo Olympics 2020.

  • Assisted by Reliance Foundation, Maana Patel recovers from injury to compete at the Tokyo Olympics:

After recovering from a career-threatening injury, Maana Patel becomes the only Indian women swimmer at Tokyo 2020. Her recovery was backed by the sports science and medicine team at Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital.

  • RF Physios head to play a crucial role at the Tokyo Olympics:

As the world’s biggest sporting event kicked off earlier this year, RF Sports Physiotherapists, Simoni Shah, and Ketan Hulawale played a crucial role as a part of the Indian Athletics Contingent supporting the Racewalkers at the Tokyo Olympics.

AUGUST

  • Graceson Jeeva from RF Odisha Athletics HPC strikes silver at the Jr Federation Cup:

RF Odisha Athletics HPC athlete Graceson Jeeva clocked a timing of 14.14s to win silver in the 110m hurdle event at the National Junior Federation Cup.

 

  • 5 RF Weightlifters win at the Senior National Championships at Patiala:
    Jhilli Dalabehera (45kg) won bronze in the Senior Category, Sneha Soren (55kg) won bronze in the Junior Category and gold in Senior Category, Sidhanta Gogoi (61kg) won gold in Senior Category (Interstate), Achinta Sheuli (73kg) won gold in the Senior Category and Deepak Lather (73kg) won silver in Senior the Category

 

SEPTEMBER

  • RFYC’s graduate Mohammad Nemil turns FC Goa’s starlet:

After an incredible performance in Durand Cup, Mohammad Nemil, an RFYC graduate emerged as a promising football player for Hero ISL Club, FC Goa.

 

  • Records were broken at the 68th Odisha State Senior Athletics Championship:

MC Athlete, Sasmita Tigga broke the women’s 3000m steeplechase record to win gold with a new meet record of 12.01.76, while HPC Athlete, Sahil Kiro clocked 53.59s in the men’s 400m hurdles heats to eventually win gold. Swadhin Majhi cleared a record-breaking 2.07m High-Jump, and set a new State Record in the 68th Odisha State Senior Athletics Championship.

  • Expert-curated Athletics Webinar Series with over 3500+ registrations across the country:

The RFYS Athletics Development Webinar Series had 12 webinar sessions spanning over 400 mins of high-quality educational content. The sessions covered various topics ranging from training, recovery, strength and conditioning to get the right nutrition and psychological aspects.

  • RF Odisha HPC athletes make a mark at the 60th National Open Athletics Championships:

Amalan Borgohain wins silver in the men’s 100 sprints clocking a PB of 10.34s. He also broke a 14-year meet record to win the 200m race with a PB of 20.75s to win gold.

 

  • The inaugural U23 National Athletics Championships witnesses RF Odisha HPC athletes unlock 11 personal bests and clinch 3 bronze medals:

MD Alamgir, Swadhin Majhi, and Moumita Mondal won bronze in their disciplines. MD Alamgir clinched the medal in the 400m final with a PB of 47.20s, Swadhin Majhi bagged the medal in the high jump with a remarkable jump of 2.08m while Moumita won in women’s 100m hurdles with a PB of 14.05s.

 

OCTOBER

  • RF Elite Athletes represent India at the Thomas-Uber Cup:

After 10 years, the Indian contingent led by young talents such as shuttlers Aditi Bhatt, Dhruv Kapila, and Krishna Prasad rally through till the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup.

 

  • RF Elite Athlete wins the Men’s Doubles title at the Infosys Foundation International Challenge:

RF Elite Athlete, Krishna Prasad along with his shuttle partner, Vishnu G. Panjala ACE the Men's Doubles Finals at the 13th edition of the Infosys Foundation International Challenge held at Bengaluru, Karnataka.

NOVEMBER

  • RF Elite Athlete wins silver at the Hungarian International Championships 2021:

After acing her senior debut at the Uber Cup, 18-year old shuttler Aditi Bhatt won the silver medal at the Hungarian International Championships 2021 held in Budapest.

  • Indian Recurve Team (Women) featuring RF Elite Athlete wins SILVER at 2021 Asian Archery Championship:

The Indian Women's Recurve Team finished with a podium spot on the final day of the 2021 Asian Archery Championship at Dhaka, Bangladesh. The team featuring Ankita Bhakat, Madhu Vedwan, and RF Athlete, Ridhi Phor, faced South Korea in the Finals to place second with a score of 0-6.

DECEMBER

  • RFYS launched the Athletics Elite Coaches Development Workshop Series:

RFYS Athletics Elite Coaches Development Workshop Series has launched an exclusive series for select 30 coaches to enhance their understanding of the technical aspects of middle & long-distance running, hurdles, sprints, and more. The series was conducted by James Hillier, Head Coach, and Ajith Markose, Middle & Long Distance Coach, from the Reliance Foundation Odisha Athletics High Performance Center.

  • RF Athletes bag laurels for India at the Commonwealth Senior Championships 2021:

While Jhilli Dalabehera won silver in the women’s 49kg category, Achinta Sheuli won gold in the men’s 73 kg category. With their incredible performance, the athletes earned podium places for India at the Commonwealth Senior Championships 2021.

 

Amidst all circumstances in 2021, we strived to rise above the challenge as a sporting community. Through the ecosystem we have built, we will continue to endeavor to rise above all challenges by paving support and encouragement to our athletes to build a glorious sporting future for our country.

Here’s looking forward to a bigger, better, sportier 2022!