Shivpuri to host 70th National Under-17 Boys Athletics Championship from November 12 to 16

Shivpuri will host the 70th National Under-17 Boys Athletics Championship from November 12 to 16. Thirty-eight teams from across the country will take part, with a total of 765 athletes and 120 officials.

Teams from about a dozen states, including Gujarat and Kerala, began arriving in Shivpuri on Tuesday. Committee members welcomed the arriving teams at the railway station and the bus stand. Education Department officials and organising committees are busy with arrangements for welcoming the athletes, their accommodation and the preparation of the sports ground.

Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will inaugurate the championship at 10 am on November 12. Preparations for the event have also been reviewed. The opening will feature cultural programmes by boys and girls from government schools. After that, heats of the running events will be held in the presence of guests. The championship will run until November 16.

District Education Officer Akash Singh Yadav visited the Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Sports Complex on Tuesday and inspected the arrangements at the ground. He spoke to committee members about the preparations and then inspected the places set aside for the athletes to stay.

Yadav told officials and committee members that a national-level competition was being held in Shivpuri for the first time. He said the arrangements should therefore be such that the district and the state create a good impression among the athletes arriving from across the country.

Accommodation for athletes and officials has been arranged at Hostels No. 1 and 2 of the Government Excellence Higher Secondary School, Shivpuri, at Saraswati Vidyapeeth, at the residential school hostel and in private hotels. Arrangements are being made to house about 1,000 people, including athletes, officials and other state officials.

District Sports Officer Chandrashekhar Bemte, Shivpuri Block Education Officer Kaushal Gautam, Kolaras Block Education Officer Ramkrishna Raghuvanshi, Badarwas Block Resource Centre Coordinator Angad Singh Tomar, former Block Education Officer Manoj Nigam, former District Sports Officer Mahendra Tomar and national coach Yadavendra Chaudhary were present during the review. Ajay Batham, Neeraj Saraiya, Rajesh Kamthan, Sneh Raghuvanshi, Raghavendra Raghuvanshi, Sanskar Mishra, Pankaj Pandey, RL Ojha, Raju Jat, Sadashiv Bhargava, Deepak Manjhi, Anil Malawaria and Manoj Sharma were among the other members present.