Miles N Milers Sports Academy to train tribal youths in Nagpur

Modified Jul 10, 2022 15:43 IST

Five girls and six tribal boys are from Hemalkasa and will be trained in Nagpur. (Pic credit: Miles N Milers Sports Academy)

Miles N Milers Sports Academy and ProHealth Foundation have jointly started an aspiring project to train tribal youth in sports and sports-related education in Central India.

The ambitious project will be run in Nagpur in association with Lok Biradari Prakalp of Dr Prakash Amte, Magsaysay Award winner.

11 tribal youths - five girls and six boys -- from Hemalkasa have started training with Miles N Milers Sports Academy headed by Dr. Amit Samarth.

Hemalkasa is a village in the Bhamragad Taluka of Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra State, India. It belongs to the Madia Gond community. Hemalkasa is where the famous Magsaysay Award-winner couple Dr Prakash Baba Amte and Dr Mandakini Amte manage the Lok Biradari Prakalp project.

All 11 youngsters are from tribal villages in and around Hemalkasa, where Lok Biradari Prakalp is located. They are being given fitness and strength training in Nagpur.

“All the youths have recently passed their 12th standard examination and will be studying for a Bachelor of Physical Education degree at Jyotiba College of Physical Education (JCPE) which is affiliated with Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University,” said Dr Amit Samarth in Nagpur on Sunday.

The entire expense of studies, training and nutrition for the next three years is being sponsored jointly by Lok Biradari Prakalp, ProHealth Foundation and Miles N Milers Endurance Sports Academy.

Our goal is to train tribal youths for mid-distance and marathon races: Amit Samarth

Tribal girls have been training in Nagpur under Amit Samarth. (Pic credit: Miles N Milers Sports Academy)

Renowned trainer Amit Samarth said the main aim is to train these tribal youngsters for mid-distance and marathon races. They will be provided with all the coaching and necessary assistance so that they can become excellent athletes in the future.

“Apart from studies, they will be focusing on training for physical fitness, middle distance, and marathon races. The objective of the project is to train these tribal youths in competitive sports and also give them education so that they get employed later on in their lives after pursuing sports seriously.

"Our objective is to give a platform to these tribal youths from Hemalkasa to become national and international sportspersons,” said Amit Samarth.

The project is co-ordinated by Jeetendra Nayak, Aniket Amte, Renuka Nayak, Dr Samarth, and Mukul Samarth.

“We hope that big corporate companies will come forward and sponsor these individual athletes in future,” he added.

All 11 tribal youths are in the age group of 18 to 22 years. They are naturally talented and can be groomed into quality athletes with proper training.