Ma Foi Foundation today, launched the Disha Sports Academy, a first-of-its-kind sports training venture at the Nehru Stadium today. Ms. Hemalatha Rajan, Managing Trustee, Ma Foi Foundation launched the initiative by unveiling the Disha Sports Academy logo. Mr. Raghu Pillai, President -Operations & Strategy, Reliance Retail Limited presided over the function.
The Disha Sports Academy aims to provide opportunities for children from across Tamil Nadu to train in niche sports that include boxing, rowing, athletics and football for a period of 4 to 5 years.
The Academy will encourage children from underprivileged backgrounds to pursue sports seriously, and not as just a hobby. Children will be put through a rigorous selection process out of which sixty of them will make it for the final training program that will be sponsored by Ma Foi Foundation. The Disha Sports Academy will provide children with access to good facilities and world class trainers who will prepare them to compete at national and international levels.
The Foundation had conducted its first football tournament in association with Chennai Football Association to select the children who will be trained at the Academy for football. This tournament started on Feb 18th with over 105 teams comprising of over 1500 children participating in it.
The finals were played at Nehru Stadium on March 1st in which the winners were presented with the Disha Championship Trophy. All other participants were also recognized and felicitated at the Awards Ceremony. For children who took part in the Disha Championship Tournament it was the first time they could participate in a football game without paying any entry fee.
Speaking about the launch of the Disha Sports Academy, Ms. Latha Rajan, Managing Trustee, Ma Foi Foundation said, “There are so many talented children who do not have the right means to make it big in sports. We at the Foundation would like to give them an opportunity to live their dreams. We are confident that the Disha Sports Academy would churn out competent sportsmen who might one day represent our country at the Olympics and bring laurels to our nation.”
Disha Sports Academy plans to conduct selection programs for rowing, boxing and athletics in the months of March and April this year.
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About Ma Foi Foundation:
The Ma Foi Foundation was established as an independent CSR initiative of Ma Foi to actively engage in defined community services. Ma Foi Foundation has touched the lives of thousands of adults and children, empowering them through education and employability, giving them better health care and providing them a platform to learn, grow and lead better lives.
DISHA is the child empowerment initiative of the Foundation. Disha focuses on the holistic development of children enabling them to enjoy their right to education, healthcare and providing them the necessary support to realize their dreams.
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