After successful conduct of month long Premier League in the Kashmir valley, Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council shall be beginning the second leg of the event from next week across the Jammu division.
An official here on Thursday told UNI that Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council shall be hosting the Premier League 2020 matches in Jammu division from next week in four sports disciplines viz Volleyball, Hockey, Football and Kabaddi.
“Secretary J&K Sports Council Dr Naseem Javaid Chowdhary also chaired a meeting in this context on Wednesday with the managers and senior coaches in various disciplines and passed on necessary directions for successful and smooth conduct of the Premier League matches,” said an official.
He added that the Secretary, in view of COVID pandemic, also directed the hierarchy to take all preventive measures and follow SPOs and guidelines being issued from time to time by the Government related to pandemic for holding sports activities.
On Tuesday, Dr Choudhary, Secretary, J&K Sports Council had told UNI that eyeing 2028 Olympics, Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council is boosting the “unsung talent” at grass-root level through its ongoing Premier League in four disciplines across the Union Territory.
“Initially we are hosting Premier League in four disciplines on an experimental basis and the response is amazing,” he said and added that in 2021, the Premier League will be organised in 10-12 games and at a later stage in almost all the disciplines to nurture talent with special focus on boosting them at grassroots level.
“Premier League will not be a one-time exercise but be introduced as a regular feature,” said the Secretary, adding that the target is the 2028 Olympics to be hosted by Los Angeles.
“We are trying to catch the budding talent at a tender age so that they can be trained under professional coaches aiming for the 2028 Olympics,” Dr Choudhary asserted.
Premier League is being conducted at District, Divisional and UT level in the disciplines of Football (men and women), Hockey (Men), Volleyball (Men and Women) and Kabaddi (Men) during the current Financial Year at a cost of Rs 206.27 lakhs.
After conducting the admissible activities, the organizers shall also submit a detailed report of the leagues to the Sports Council for record and reference.