Around 3,500 young athletes will take part in the 12th edition of the National Inter-District Junior Athletics Meet which begins here tomorrow.
The three-day meet, which is being held at the BHEL Stadium, will see athletes from 260 districts from across the country in action in a bid to catch the eye of the talent hunters from Athletics Federation of India.
In the previous edition held in Ranchi, five new meet records created and this time the AFI is expecting more records to tumble.
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Over the next three days, the Meet will witness 30 track and field events combined in the boys and girls sections, which includes five events each in the Under-14 category and 10 events each in the Under-16 category respectively.
The primary aim behind this ambitious initiative of the AFI was to tap and nurture the Next-Gen athletes from the districts.
"The AFI is going all out to ensure that the National Inter-District Junior Athletics Meet is strengthened each year and the number of participating districts increases. These young aspirants from the districts are our hope and future of Indian athletics. I congratulate and wish good luck to all the affiliated districts associations and their young athletes for the meet," AFI President Adille Sumariwalla said.
World Championship bronze medallist and winner of IAAF World Athletics Finals gold medal, Anju Bobby George said, "The popularity of athletics seems to be on the upswing. It's gratifying to know that the number of entries from the districts and athletes has increased this year in the NID-JAM compared to 197 districts in the previous edition. I would like to convey my best wishes to all the budding athletes."
As per the AFI guidelines for this Meet, it's mandatory for the affiliated districts to first conduct their own championship in order to select the athletes for the NID-JAM.
Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala lead the table in terms of the numbers of affiliated districts representing them.
