PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, March 6: Tata Steel Adventure Foundation’s (TSAF) Sport Climbing Academy has once again demonstrated outstanding performance at the recently concluded Open Sport Climbing Championship held at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK), Kolkata, from February 28 to March 2.
This year, the academy strategically emphasized grassroots participation, solidifying its commitment to identifying and nurturing talent from the earliest stages.
Tata Steel Adventure Foundation focuses on building the Grassroot pool of talent with its sport climbing centres in and around Jamshedpur.
The student-athletes from ‘Masti Ki Paasthshaala’ (MKP) practise regularly at the modular walls present in their respective centres under the guidance of able instructors.
It is thrilling to find so many of the athletes from this pool clinch medals in this championship.
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TSAF athletes bag 23 medals
The championship witnessed enthusiastic participation across various categories, including Sub-junior, Junior and Open, for both males and females.
The two formats of climbing that were included in this event were Lead Climbing and Bouldering.
A contingent of around 71 athletes travelled from Jamshedpur to Kolkata for the championship.
With an exemplary performance, the TSAF athletes secured a total of 23 medals with 7 Gold medals, 9 Silver medals and 7 Bronze medals.
TSAF’s grassroot training centres in Jamshedpur
The MKP centres where Sport Climbing is regularly organized are Kadma, Bagunhatu, Pipla, Rajnagar, Pursudih and Tinplate.
TSAF’s Grassroot training centres are present in Dimna and Tumung. The student-athletes practise on the modular walls at the respective centres. With the state-of-the-art infrastructure in the TSAF Sport Climbing Arena at the JRD Tata Sports Complex, a selected pool of student-athletes from the respective centres is brought here for bi-weekly practice.
The TSAF Sport Climbing Academy shows recognition and commitment by including diverse athletes, training them rigorously, and helping them perform well.
This aligns with TSAF’s ongoing mission to develop a strong sporting culture by nurturing talent from the grassroots level.