Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board — The support behind para-archer Sheetal Devi

Anshul Garg, the CEO of SMVDSB, reveals how the board went beyond pilgrimage management to achieve excellence in the field of sports.

Impactful: In just over seven years since its inception, SMVDSB — with its training facility located in Katra, Jammu — has established itself as a prominent player in Indian sports.  | Photo Credit: RITU RAJ KONWAR

A defining moment of Indian sports in 2023 was the sight of armless archer Sheetal Devi effortlessly winning medals for fun at the Para Asian Games in Hangzhou.

In addition to winning an Arjuna Award, along with countless other adulations, the 17-year-old’s heroics have also brought the limelight onto another entity — the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), which identified and groomed Sheetal’s talents.

In just over seven years since its inception, SMVDSB — with its training facility located in Katra, Jammu — has established itself as a prominent player in Indian sports.

Speaking to  Sportstar after SMVDSB won the Sportstar Sports for Social Good award in Mumbai, Anshul Garg, its board’s CEO, opened up about the organisation’s origin, ideology and ambition.

The Vaishno Devi temple is one of the most popular pilgrim destinations in India. How did your organisation enter the field of sports?

Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) is largely dedicated to pilgrimage management. We are one of the most visited pilgrim sites in the country. Over the past seven, or eight years, we have diversified into a lot of other activities. This includes healthcare, education and sports.

Sports is a major part of our social outreach programme. We started in 2016 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated our sports complex. Then we started grooming local talent, focussing on four major disciplines — archery, shooting, judo and athletics.

There was no other platform like this in the entire state. That was the reason we started. Secondly, athletics comes naturally to the people of the mountainous regions. We have been trying to nurture their potential.

We have state-of-the-art equipment, trainers and a residential facility for local students. We are grooming them to excel at the national level. We have been lucky to achieve results at the international level within a short period.

Sheetal Devi (L) during the archery event at the 4th Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China. | Photo Credit: PTI

Sheetal Devi’s success has now propelled your organistation to national fame. How did SMVDSB wade into para-archery and how has it been to observe Sheetal’s growth from such a close range?

We started archery in 2017. We hired two coaches, and we identified local kids. What interested us was that a lot of para-athletes in and around Katra were interested in the discipline.

So, Rakesh Kumar was the first para-archer we groomed. He represented India at the Tokyo Olympics, and this motivated a lot of people to take up the sport in the region. And Sheetal was one of them. She is from a remote village in Jammu and has been with us for the last two years. She trains and resides in our facility.

With the kind of energy that she carries, she is not scared of competition. For a girl of just 17, to perform at the national level itself is a huge deal. But going to the Asian Games, and winning the gold medal, is something worth celebrating.

𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝!

Teenage para archer Sheetal Devi is World No 1 in the women's compound open category, as per the latest rankings released by World Archery

Details: https://t.co/kYVSGJREFW#SheetalDevi#ParaArcherypic.twitter.com/ZDVoiXvVws

— Sportstar (@sportstarweb) November 28, 2023

Community interaction and local support are extremely important for such a residential facility to thrive. How do you feel the community has warmed up to the initiative?

When we started, our coaches and trainers had to go out to the villages to hunt for talent. We had to convince parents to send their kids. Nowadays, the process has reversed. Now, people across Jammu are approaching us, asking if their kids can be admitted. The community is now aware of the potential of sports. There is no bar for students from outside the region. All we are looking for is how good the athlete is.

A key component in a residential academy is the presence of experienced coaches. How did you manage to recruit them to a relatively new facility in an unexplored terrain?

It was a difficult process in the beginning. We started getting coaches almost a year after we began. We spent a lot of time identifying the right talent and convincing them that this is a good place. We have a lot of avenues for growth of coaches inside the organisation. And they have total freedom to train their athletes.

We are also flexible in our recruitment. People who excel in a sport are recruited as coaches. For example, Rakesh joined as a player and after performing consistently for four years and winning medals, has now been recruited as an assistant coach. So, that is a progression path.

Sheetal Devi receives the Moment of the Year award from Viswanathan Anand and Leander Paes during the Sportstar Aces Awards 2024. | Photo Credit: K.R Deepak

Like every training academy, success at the regional and national levels is critical. How do you look at your organisation’s growth and prospects?

Rakesh was the first stepping stone. Sheetal has built on it and now a lot of girls in the region have been inspired by her. We have high hopes for both of them from the Paris Olympics. Sarika is a para-archer from Haryana, who, we are hoping, will bring in a medal from Paris. Pragya and Raveena are our brightest prospects in shooting. We are expecting medals from them at the National Games.

Are you planning to expand to other disciplines and was it a conscious decision to stick to individual sports?

As of now, the plan is to focus on these four. We are trying to achieve excellence in these rather than diversify into a lot of other activities. If we do that, we might be spread out too thin. This again depends on the ecosystem. If a promising talent comes up in another sport from the region, the board will be open to broadening our approach.

It was not a conscious decision not to invest in team sports. Once we began, we understood it was easier to deal with individual sports. In future, we could look at team sports.

What do you feel is the defining philosophy of SMVDSB?

We are looking to create an environment of excellence. We have around 150 athletes, who are traning every day. And based on their performance we are also providing scholarships to some of the best performing athletes. This is to motivate them. Our ultimate ambition is to harness the potential of as many young athletes as possible. Because, once they reach a particular level, we do not need to support them. Take Sheetal as an example. She is being backed by IOC and she is guaranteed a job. We want to create options for our players so that they can get ahead in life.