As many as 650 children from 10 states and two union territories are participating in the grassroots sports promotion series The Sports for Change organised by HCL Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of HCL Technologies at Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur.The foundation will felicitate winners of the 4th edition of Sports for Change, an initiative to recognise young potential talent and nurture the sports skills of youth.The event is taking place after a gap of two years due to the Covid pandemic. The two-day event will culminate with the felicitation of the winners on July 22, 2022.
The Sports for Change was inaugurated by chairperson of HCL Technologies Roshni Nadar Malhotra. Arjuna awardee badminton player Anup Sridhar, Jerlin Anika (3 gold medals in Deaflympics 2021), Vijay Anand Guntur (President - Engineering and R&D Services, HCL Technologies) and director of HCL Foundation Nidhi Pundhir.
During these two days, the students would be participating in sporting events like football, volleyball, kabaddi, basketball, girls’ cricket, girls’ rugby, chess, carrom, badminton, wrestling, table tennis & athletics (track, field, and throw). So far, the Foundation has given out 91 sports scholarships worth 30 lakhs in total. These long-term sports scholarships are funded by the HCL Power of One – a voluntary employee contribution programme and include comprehensive coverage comprising- academic and nutrition support, sport-specific skill and fitness coaching, child-safe play spaces, equipment, etc. The students who had excelled in qualifiers 2021 participated in the National Sports Meet. The students representing the Sports for Change event today have been identified after rigorous training and screening camps and have qualified for the Sports for Change – District, State, and Zonal level Championships.