SAI confers 246 athletes, coaches with first-ever Institutional Awards

The first-ever Sports Authority of India (SAI) Institutional Awards for Athletes and Coaches were presented on Wednesday. 162 athletes and 84 coaches at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium were honored in New Delhi. The athletes and coaches were conferred awards in the Outstanding Award and Best Award category for their performance in national and international competitions.

Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Nisith Pramanik, Secretary-Sports Sujata Chaturvedi and officials from the Sports Ministry were present at the awards ceremony.

The awards acknowledged the exceptional performances of SAI athletes and coaches under various sports promotion schemes at national and international levels from 2016. The awards, thus, have been granted to the deserving candidates for the years of 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20.

The categories of awards were Outstanding Award (for National level achievements) and Best Award (for International level achievements).

The selection committee comprised senior SAI officials as well as eminent sportspersons. They streamlined the nominations received from the Regional Directors of the various National Centers of Excellence.

SAI Award-winning atheles are an inspiration, says Sports Minister

Sports Minister Anurag Thakur praised the award winners. He said a host of facilities are being extended to athletes.

"I heartily congratulate all athletes and coaches who have been awarded Every athlete is an inspiration for his generation."

Anurag Thakur said the importance of sports is more as it is an integral part of the National Education Policy.

"When the sporting achievements of a student are announced in his or her school, it inspires other students to look beyond just academics and include sports in their life. That is the power of an athlete. I am also glad that sport has become an integral part of the National Education Policy and therefore is a part of every student's life now."

The awardees have also been given a special tailor-made blazer along with a citation.