Teams from all five development regions performed march-past during the inaugural ceremony. Students of VS Niketan and Little Angels" School also performed on the occasion.[break]
Meanwhile, senior athletics chief coach Sushil Narsingh Rana and basketball player Kishma Purja took the oath on behalf of coaches and players respectively.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Regmi opined that the event will be vital in identifying talents at the school level. He also lauded the task of starting school sports as historic and said the government was committed to making sports a compulsory subject in schools.
National Sports Council Member Secretary and President of School Sports Yuvaraj Lama said that school sports was the basis for players" production. Higher Secondary Schools" Association Nepal (HISSAN) President Umesh Shrestha, National Private and Boarding Schools" Organization Nepal (N-PABSON) President Gita Rana and PABSON President Baburam Pokharel also expressed their views on the occasion.
Minister for Youth and Sports Ram Kumar Shrestha had earlier hoisted the flag of school sports. Shrestha also distributed prizes to the winners of athletics, cricket and kabaddi events being organized by N-PABSON.
The event is being jointly organized by PABSON, N-PABSON and HISSAN under the aegis of National Sports Council. Only players in the 12-16 years age group are eligible to compete in the championship. The event, which concludes on Tuesday, features competitions in 13 different sports disciplines. HISSAN will conduct basketball, volleyball, chess, swimming and table tennis events. Similarly, PABSON will organize baghchal, karate, football, badminton, and wushu events. N-PABSON has already conducted athletics, cricket and kabaddi events.
Central Region off to winning start
Central Region made a winning start in the inaugural match of boys" football. Central defeated Western Region 2-0 in the match played at the Chyasal ground on Friday.
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