At the recently held 2022 Sportstar Aces Awards, the Reliance Foundation bagged one of the most prestigious awards for its contributions towards making the sporting ecosystem in India more inclusive and accessible. Reliance Foundation won the Sports for Social Good (Chairperson’s Choice) Award at the event, which was held at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. Mrs Nita Ambani, member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Founder Chairperson of Reliance Foundation, accepted the honour with a video message.
"Distinguished guests and friends, I am honoured to receive the prestigious award on behalf of the Reliance Foundation. My gratitude to Malini (Parthasarathy) and The Hindu group for sharing and recognising our passion for Indian sport. We are a young nation brimming with talent with nearly 50 per cent of the population under the age of 25," she said in her message.
"With the right infrastructure and training, I am sure they will make India proud. It is my dream for every child 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 programmes. We are committed to building a grassroots ecosystem for sports in India. Recently, India won the right to hold the International Olympic Committee's session in 2023. This historic session will open the doors of the Olympic opportunity for our youth and be the beginning of a glorious new chapter for Indian sport. I know in the audience today are many young athletes who represent our great nation on the global stage. Their story, sweat and success will inspire the coming generation. Every time an Abhinav Bindra, PV Sindhu or Neeraj Chopra win medals for India, they inspire countless youngsters to follow in their footsteps. Let us together make India a truly global sporting powerhouse. Jai Hind."
The Reliance Foundation is engaged in doing crucial work to develop the sports ecosystem in schools and colleges across India. Its aim is to drive long-term sustainable impact across many sports through the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports (RFYS) programme. The plan here involves investing in competitions, skill development of PE teachers, infrastructural development and community engagement for parents, students and alumni, and building a talent pipeline in priority sports like athletics and football.
Since the inception of these efforts by the Reliance Foundation, 21.5 million youth and children with a talent for sports across 13,000+ schools and colleges have received critical support. Even though most sporting activities were at a standstill during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Reliance Foundation remained steadfast in its efforts by continuing to contribute through online skill enhancement and community engagement programmes. The Reliance Foundation Youth Sports conducted 51 virtual sessions on a training, fitness, nutrition and wellbeing 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 a 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.