About IDBI Federal’s grassroots sports development philosophy:
IDBI Federal Life Insurance believes that sports build character, especially grassroots sports. Solid character and discipline in individuals in turn build better societies.
IDBI Federal has always remained on the forefront to contribute to the society’s well being and sporting fabric of the country. The company began its journey around this vision with a launch of Bowling Foundations across various state cricket associations. They roped in the bowling legend, Jeff Thomson for this initiative. Apart from this, the company also supports Vengsarkar Cricket Academy (VCA) founded by Dilip Vengsarkar, former India captain and an astute cricket administrator.
The players are selected on the basis of merit and the training is provided free of cost making it a great platform for up-coming cricketers from humble backgrounds to not only showcase their talent, but also further nurture their cricketing skills.
About IDBI Federal Quest for Excellence:
In December 2016, IDBI Federal announced yet another grassroots sports development initiative – an association with Pullela Gopichand to launch the ‘Quest for Excellence’ programme.
The initiative has been launched with an aim to support country’s vision of creating world-class badminton players to represent India at international tournaments and bring back laurels for the country, including the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
The silver medal by PV Sindhu at Rio Olympics 2016 has propelled the game to its much- deserved eminence in India and one cannot undermine the role Pullela Gopichand has played over the years in developing world-class players for India.
An association with Gopichand Badminton Academy strongly reflects IDBI Federal’s commitment to this game and grassroots sports development in India.
Pullela Gopichand, Programme Head, Quest for Excellence, says, “In India, Badminton doesn’t get the kind of support that some other sports get. ‘Quest for Excellence’ is great step taken by IDBI Federal Life Insurance in extending its support to train quality badminton players. It is an opportune time for IDBI Federal Life Insurance and our academy to come together and we are excited to push initiatives to promote badminton and hope to inspire a generation of medal- winners.”
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IDBI Federal Life Insurance Quest for Excellence & Pullela Gopichand Academy reiterated their commitment towards this sport with the launch of #Youngchamps campaign in December 2017. They yet again embarked a journey to promote badminton and give budding badminton players in India an opportunity to grow, through this new initiative.
IDBI Federal Life Insurance has become the first company to launch a badminton talent hunt in India as a part of Quest For Excellence #YoungChamps programme with the Chief National Coach of Indian Badminton, Pullela Gopichand. The aim of the programme is promote badminton among the youth, and to identify budding badminton players who will be the country’s next champions.
During the first phase of this pan-India campaign, entries were accepted via two mediums; comment and direct message to Facebook and Twitter. The entry was free and a reference video was uploaded on Facebook and Twitter to help the participants understand the process better. The applicants shared a two-minute video shot in daylight with clarity. This was followed by a 3 weeks long selection process. The entries were shortlisted by Pullela Gopichand himself and his professional coaches and results were announced on Facebook and Twitter with a video and a post.
Out of the thousand plus entries that were received in the first round, twenty-six kids were shortlisted for an evaluation process at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad. After a rigorous evaluation process on 21st April, fourteen talented young players, aged between 7 -11 years, have been selected purely on the basis of their performance, fitness, attitude, agility, and footwork.
The next stage of the programme is the training of these #YoungChamps at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy. The training is spread over two weeks during the summer and winter vacations respectively. During the four-week tenure, the kids will get an opportunity to learn new techniques and master various skills. The first batch of the summer training will begin on 30th April and the second one on 14th May. In order to strengthen the technical and tactical skills of these young shuttlers, special coaches will be assigned to test the physical and mental strength of each kid with a focus on their behaviour, discipline and fair play. The kids will also
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be able to interact with and observe the country’s top national and international players at the Academy which will inspire and motivate them to train harder.
At the end of the training, based on Pullela Gopichand and his team’s evaluation of their overall performance, fitness and commitment, the talented kids could receive an opportunity to train permanently at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy which will be sponsored by the IDBI Federal Quest For Excellence programme.
Karthik Raman, CMO, IDBI Federal Life Insurance said, "We are delighted to announce the fourteen kids who are our first-ever IDBI Federal Quest For Excellence #YoungChamps. The four-week innovative training programme at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy will allow the elite team of coaches to hone in on specific areas of improvement for the overall development of each of the selected kids. Badminton legend, Pullela Gopichand himself will keep a close eye on every kid in the programme, as we seek to identify those whom we can nurture and develop to become India's next badminton stars."
Pullela Gopichand, Chief National Coach for the Indian Badminton team and Programme Head, IDBI Federal Quest For Excellence said, "I am thrilled to see such a tremendous response to the IDBI Federal Quest for Excellence #YoungChamps programme. It was extremely difficult to shortlist the twenty-six kids out of the thousand-plus entries that we received in the first round and it was even more difficult to select the final fourteen budding badminton players. All of them show immense promise and potential, and we will now work with each #YoungChamp to help them further develop their skills and gain confidence."
Through digital promotions, this is the first time a platform has been given to kids across the country, and even beyond boundaries, to showcase their talent as badminton players and earn a scholarship to train at the ‘Mecca of Indian badminton’, Gopichand Academy. These fourteen kids have been selected from various parts of India and Dubai. The new techniques and skills acquired during the training might earn these #YoungChamps an opportunity to get permanently absorbed by the academy and they could eventually become the next gen badminton stars of the country who would bring laurels and glory to the nation.
The selected #YoungChamps are:
1) Naishaa Kaur Bhatoye, Mumbai 2) D. Anudheep, Hyderabad 3) Sakshi Prakash, Dubai 4) R Sphoorty, Hyderabad 5) Vansh Dev, New Delhi 6) Showrya Kiran, Hyderabad 7) Shanay Patel, Ahmedabad 8) Sai Praavin S, Coimbatore 9) A Bhavesh Reddy, Telangana 10) Pawan Suresh, Karnataka 11) Tushit Kejriwal, Odisha 12) Abhinav Garg, Bangalore
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13) Riyan Malhan, Dubai
14) Charan Simha Reddy, Hyderabad
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