Car Nicobar, Dec. 11: Basket ball Coaching Camp for the students began today at Car Nicobar. The Chief Guest on the occasion, Education Officer of the district Shri H. Nathaniel inaugurated the most awaited camp for the students of under 14 years of age at Bishop John Richardson Stadium.

Addressing the young enthusiasts Nathaniel said that students should utilize this opportunity of specialized training in Basket ball and excel in this sport. He said that though the sport was being played prior to the Tsunami Tragedy but after the calamity this particular game disappeared from the field. Now with the joint efforts of the Directorate of Education and Department of Sports it is being revived.

Expressing his happiness on seeing the large number of interested students, he said that all the Senior Secondary Schools of Car Nicobar will have the Basket ball courts soon, so that they can have the facility of practising it at their school itself. The Chief guest said that the Administration is committed to develop sports infrastructure in the district, and with the launch of Panchayat Yuva Kreeda Khel Abhiyan (PYKKA) by the Chief Secretary at Car Nicobar last month, every village is being provided the basic Sports facilities.    

The Basket Ball Coach from Netaji Stadium Port Blair, Shri Nagesh informed that the training camps at Port Blair have produced good results. The Islands’ team got the opportunity of playing the SGFI National School basket ball Championship few years back. The students here are very talented in Sports and definitely would shine in this game as well.

The guest of Honour Shri Russel, Senior Accounts officer appreciated the effort of the departments in reviving the sport. The SGFI National Player, Lab Chandra, a student of Lapathy also shared his experience of participating in the National Championship and called upon his juniors to dedicate themselves to this game too.

Proposing the vote of thanks, the Block Sports Officer, Shri Birendra Pradhan appealed to the students to be regular in the camp and learn the skills attentively. He hoped that Car Nicobar will have a strong team of Basket ball too in future, which will succeed in making its identity in the field of this sport as well.

More than 100 students from Lapathy, Mus, Malaca, Tamaloo , Tapoming and other schools are attending this 10 days training programme. Separate training workshop is also being conducted at the Stadium for the interested youths of different villages. There will be an Exhibition match on 19th Dec, in which the young players will be demonstrating their skills.