Jamshedpur: The much-awaited annual 20-day summer sports camp, that provides city school goers a chance to sharpen their sporting skills during the vacations, began at the JRD Tata Sports Complex at Bistupur here on Friday.
Sub-divisional officer Madhvi Mishra inaugurated the camp in the presence of Tata Steel sports wing officers, coaches and participating children.
A magic show was also organised after the inaugural ceremony.
Over 3,000 students (5 to 18 age group) from various city schools will fine tune their skills in football, archery, cricket, athletics, badminton, boxing, basketball, chess, table tennis, golf, handball, karate, kabaddi, roller skating, tennis, volleyball, basketball and swimming from some of the best coaches and players of the games at this year's camp.
Zumba and yoga, also included in the list of activities, is open for all age groups.
Although swimming seasons began from Friday itself, all other activities will start from Saturday. Over 600 students have enrolled themselves for swimming alone, indicating the popularity of the discipline.
Coaches, including Dronacharya awardee Purnima Mahto and Dharmendra Tiwary (archery), Arjuna awardee Bagicha Singh and Saroj Lakra (athletics), Hassan Imam Mallick and Firoz Khan (handball), Alan Singh (golf) and Chandeshwar Sahu (roller skating) will conduct the camp with help from senior players.
Except swimming, all other disciplines will be held from 6am to 8am. Swimming classes will be imparted from 8am to 11am and from 4pm to 5pm.
"I love handball and will pick up some tricks of the game during the summer vacations," said Sumit Kumar, a student of DBMS School.
Pragya Senapati, a St Mary's English School student, said she was taking part in the camp for the first time. "I always used to spend my summer vacations outside Jamshedpur. But this year I opted to improve my swimming skills at the camp," she added
A Tata Steel sports wing officer said the aim of conducting the camp was to enhance the skills of students and to help them appreciate the importance of discipline. "The students can also improve their fitness," he added.
A sports mela will be organised on the concluding day on May 30.
