Taking its partnership for sporting excellence a step further, the Government of Odisha today entered into a partnership with Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel India (AMNSI) to set up Gymnastics High Performance Centre (HPC) in Bhubaneswar and Academies in Puri, Jeypore and Rourkela.
According to a State Government press release, Government of Odisha will create and maintain the infrastructure for the HPC and Academies while AMNSI will operate and manage these centres and train gymnasts, in particular women gymnasts, and provide coaching development and certification, and judge certification.
Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Sports & Youth Services Department, Govt of Odisha, Vineel Krishna and Deputy Director HR & Admin AM/NS India Keiji Kubota signed the Memorandum of Understanding in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his Private Secretary VK Pandian in Kyoto, Japan.
Earlier collaboration of the Odisha Government with AMNSI during the Ultimate Kho Kho League proved very fruitful with team Odisha Juggernauts emerging champions.
The Odisha-AMNSI Gymnastics HPC will be a facility housed in the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar for senior athletes participating in the Elite Senior Gymnastics Programme. While the three Odisha-AMNSI Gymnastics Academies will be located in Puri, Jeypore, and Rourkela for grassroots level athletes.
The HPC and Academies will focus on creating a robust scouting framework, develop talent from Odisha to compete at national and international levels with competent coaching teams, quality equipment and sports science support.
It will develop a gymnastics ecosystem with long term sustenance, with coach development & certification, judge certification and with a special focus on female gymnasts.
The athletes will receive international and national exposure in addition to academic support. The programme will help develop the sport in India and build a strong foundation of skilled coaches, trainers, and support staff.
Odisha has already set up gymnastics centre in Puri and Bhubaneswar and an additional centre in Rourkela will be operational soon. Gymnasts who have represented Odisha at national and international level have commenced their training at these centres.
Noteworthy, Odisha is the only state to set up a bouquet of high performance centres since 2019. HPCs in swimming, shooting, weightlifting, football, hockey, sports science and athletics are operational and have produced national and international players.
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PHOTO: Odisha Sports Secretary and AMNSI Deputy Director Keiji Kubota the MoU in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his Private Secretary VK Pandian in Kyoto, Japan.