SAAP leagues to identify latent sports talent

Vijayawada: Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) Chairman Animini Ravi Naidu has said that the State government is committed to identifying hidden sporting talent from villages to urban centres and providing proper guidance, training and resources to groom athletes capable of competing at the Olympic level.

He announced that the State government would organise SAAP Leagues in 32 sports disciplines this year to systematically identify and nurture emerging talent across the state.

In this connection, Naidu, along with VC & MD S Bharani, conducted a video conference with District Sports Development Officers (DSDOs) and School Games Federation (SGF) District Secretaries from the SAAP headquarters at Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation (IGMC) Stadium here on Wednesday.

Addressing the officials, Naidu stated that the primary objective of the SAAP Leagues is to identify and develop sporting talent, particularly from rural areas, and transform them into athletes of national and international standards.

The Chairman further stated that district and State-level committees are being constituted to ensure effective implementation of the leagues. Under the P4 model, local MLAs, public representatives, sports associations and educational institutions would be made partners in the initiative to ensure better coordination and outreach, he said.

SAAP Administrative Officer R Venkata Ramana Naik, Sports Officer B Srinivasa Rao and other sports officials were present during the video

conference.