The Reliance Foundation won the ‘Sports For Social Change (Chairperson’s choice)’ award at the Sportstar Aces Awards 2022 here on Saturday.
The award was accepted by Nikhil Meswani, Executive Director, Reliance Industries Limited, here. Led by Chairperson Nita Ambani, Reliance Foundation was set up in 2010 to provide impetus to various philanthropic initiatives of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).
Malini Parthasarathy, Chairperson, The Hindu Group, said, “This year, we are delighted to announce that the winner of the ‘Sport for Social Good Award’ is Reliance Foundation, that has demonstrated exceptional commitment to the cause of raising sporting skills through its Youth Sports initiative. The Foundation headed by Srimati Nita Ambani has demonstrated a rare dedication, focus and passion in this regard. It is noteworthy that Srimati Ambani’s efforts as an International Olympic Committee member has resulted in the announcement of Mumbai as the host of the 2023 International Olympic Committee session in 2023. The Reliance Foundation has invested heavily in a large outreach programme targeting particularly India’s underprivileged youngsters, imparting skills and coaching in key games like football and cricket.”
In a video message, Nita said, “It is my dream for every child in our country to have the right to education and the right to sport. At Reliance Foundation, we are humbled to have reached out to 21.5 million children through our ‘Education and Sports for All’ programme. We are committed to building a grassroots eco system for sports in India. Recently, India won the right to host the International Olympic Committee session in 2023. This historic session will open the doors for Olympic opportunities for our youth, and be the beginning of a glorious new chapter of Indian sports.”
Since inception, the sports for development initiatives of RIL have reached over 21.5 million kids across the country from 13,000+ schools and colleges.
While sporting activities were at a standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Reliance Foundation remained steadfast in efforts to have a positive impact on the sporting ecosystem through online skill enhancement and community engagement programs.
RFYS conducted 51 virtual sessions on a variety of sports-related topics including training, fitness, nutrition and well-being of athletes through partnerships with experts from Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, National Anti Doping Agency (NADA), UK Elite Sports Group (UKESG), Reliance Foundation Young Champs (RFYC), various ISL (Indian Super League) clubs and the RF Odisha Athletics HPC among others. These sessions attracted nearly 11,000 participants from across India.
RFYS also conducted series of virtual Coach Education workshops in partnership with All India Football Coaches (AIFC) for football coaches. Overall, 21 such 3-day workshops were conducted with certification to nearly 420 coaches.
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