The three organizations are jointly organizing the First National School Sports in Kathmandu from June 10 to 14 under the initiative of National Sports Council (NSC). School Sports Development Board (SSDB) will coordinate the technical aspects of the event. [break]
The organizers published the full calendar of the event amidst a press conference held in the capital on Friday. As per the calendar, schools should complete players´ registration process by Tuesday in their respective districts. Selection tournaments at the district level will be held from May 23 to 29 while regional selection tournaments are scheduled for May 30 to June 8.
It is the first multi-event national tournament for junior athletes.
According to SSDB Secretary Kul Bahadur Thapa, altogether 14 sports are included in the Junior Championship. "Table tennis, swimming, badminton and baghchal are open events while selection tournaments will be held at district and regional levels for 10 other games -- taekwondo, karate, wushu, athletics, football, volleyball, basketball, kabaddi, cricket and chess," informed Thapa.
According to Thapa, only athletes aged 12 to 16 years are eligible to participate in the tournament.
"Though the tournament is being organized by private schools´ organizations, government schools also can participate in the championship," said Yuvaraj Lama, member secretary of NSC.
"The championship is the first step in our long-term plan of winning Olympic medals. We decided to start the championship as we realized that without developing sports at the grassroots level, we can not progress at the international level. To realize our goal, we have joined hands with the private sector," added Lama.
The championship is being organized with the slogan, ´Compulsory sports, our mission´.
"Though HISSAN is an association of higher secondary schools, we are supporting the Junior Championship as we know school is the foundation," said Umesh Shrestha, president of HISSAN. "Learning from the experience of the Junior Championship, we´ll soon introduce another national championship for +2 students," said Shrestha.
N-PABSON President Geeta Rana and PABSON President Baburam Pokharel thanked NSC for taking the initiative to bridge sports and education for the first time. Both of them vowed to make the event a great success.
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