Bengaluru’s biggest sports extravaganza – Bengaluru Sports Festival 2018 to be held at Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence
Bengaluru: Bengaluru’s first-ever ‘Sports Festival’, which aims to inculcate sports as a culture and make it inclusive to the lifestyle of the city – Bengaluru Sports Festival (BSF) – is taking shape under the aegis of the Sports Excellence Trust. The first edition of the sports festival will be hosted at the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence on December 8-9, 2018.
This unique festival is the idea of some of the brightest brains of Bengaluru simply for their love for sports. Prakash Padukone, former Indian badminton player; Rahul Dravid, former Indian cricketer; Vidya Laxman, marathoner; Reeth Abraham, renowned athlete; Nandan Kamath, Go Sports, V Ravichandar, Sports Enthusiast, and Anand Adkoli, entrepreneur, have joined hands to curate this sports extravaganza.
Vimal Kumar, President, Sports Excellence Trust, said, “We are delighted to organise the first-ever Bengaluru Sports Fest 2018. It is widely known and accepted fact that India is a “sports-loving nation” and not yet a “sports playing nation”. We haven’t fully reaped the demographic dividend in sports as a nation. BSF has been envisioned to inculcate sports as a culture for every Indian family and make it inclusive to our lifestyle.”
Shyamsundar Pani, Director, Bengaluru Sports Festival, said, “Today, there isn’t any platform where parents and their children can enjoy sports end-to-end in one single venue. Moreover, with people fraught with time overruns, hectic work schedules, and unforeseen delays, work-life balance has become a figment of imagination! In the process, “All work, No play”, has become the norm for all. BSF aims to develop, cultivate and nurture sports culture in India with the end objective of ensuring that sports become a part of our routine.”
V. Ravichandar, Urbanist, remarked, “A city comes alive in its public spaces for its citizens. The BSF is a welcome addition to Bengaluru’s ‘soft’ infrastructure that will inspire youngsters to embrace sports as an integral part of their lives.”
The sports event aims to celebrate sports culture for the city by encouraging residents to take part in several sports, interactive, health and fitness initiatives. It is open for all age groups and will witness the participation of over 20,000 sports enthusiasts. Nearly 100 sports personalities and city celebrities are expected to join the festival.
A Corporate Sports Challenge is also part of the festival with the finals taking place on December 8-9. “The idea is to conduct a Corporate Sports tournament with 32 teams (Olympics format, points, medals etc for a Corporate trophy) across 10 sports at CSE. A corporate sports winner will be crowned eventually,” Shyamsundar Pani added.
As many as 3,200 corporate participants from over 32 Indian corporates will be playing in teams in the following sports disciplines – Football, Ultimate Frisbee, Cricket, Basketball, Tennis, Table Tennis, Squash, Badminton, Swimming and 100 m Sprint. The winners will be honoured and awarded with trophies and cash prize.
The two-day carnival will host workshops emphasising the growing impact of sports in one’s life, the benefits of sports in our society and how people are coming forward to pursue sports as a career choice. Highlighting the importance of proper exercise and maintaining a good diet, the carnival will also have food and nutrition workshop by fitness experts. The workshop will also aim on the peer engagement programs, where the participants will interact with people from different backgrounds / interests.
In addition to exposure to professional sports, there will be interesting interactive sessions with leading sports personalities, brainstorming on topics related to various sports disciplines, a friendly cricket match, food courts with nutritious yet diet-conscious menu, sports counselling and psychology related discussions, chalets for latest sports goods manufacturers and suppliers, various sports academies and fun games involving celebrities.