Lifting up sports at grassroots

From hunting for talent in weightlifting in remote villages to shaping them up to clinch medals at national and international platforms, Anil Kumble’s brainchild–TENVIC–is ‘ensuring victory’ at all levels in Odisha

In a remote hamlet of Pekata in Rayagada block of Odisha’s Gajapati district, a ray of hope flickered at the end of a tunnel that ran deep into poverty and despair. This beam in the distance was the lone beacon of resilience for Indian weightlifter Jyoshna Sabar. She is a first-generation Adivasi student and daughter of a farmer couple in that tiny village, who could spot the ray and hence marched ahead to bring laurels to the country in weighlifting.
She had won a bronze medal at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Youth Championships in Durres, Albania, besides several other victories at the national-level. But, this story isn’t about Sabar alone. Rather, it revolves around the guiding light which is transforming lives of hundreds others like Sabar and streghtenning grassroot-level sports in Odisha and other parts of the country. The light here is TENVIC Sports, former Indian cricket captain Anil Kumble’s multi-pronged sporting venture.

TENVIC stands for ‘To Ensure victory.’ And as the name suggests, TENVIC ensures victory, in not just fetching medals and winning championships, but also in positively impacting lives of people through sports. “It works on developing a structured ecosystem for sports, which benefits individuals, societies, nations and the world for fostering cultural, social and economic benefits,” said Rakesh Sharma, General Manager at TENVIC

In Bhubaneswar, TENVIC along with Government of Odisha and KJS Ahluwalia Group runs a world-class residential Weightlifting high performance centre at Kalinga Stadium premises. The centre in Bhubaneswar was inaugurated in February 2019 with a temporary setup at the KIIT University. A year later, the centre was shifted to Biju Patnaik Weightlifting Centre, Kalinga Stadium. The main vision of the centre is to develop sports at the grassroots-level in the state with respect to weightlifting and ‘to ensure victory’ at the international-level. At present, there are at least 60 athletes training at the centre in Bhubaneswar centre with about 25 staff members taking care of the efficient functioning of the facility.

In this multi-party project, TENVIC takes care of the education, Food, accommodation and the sports specific training of the athletes, hailing from remotest corners of the state. What’s noteworthy about TENVIC is the fact that it lays emphasis on hunting for sporting talents in remote Odisha. It runs a talent hunt programme in Odisha throughout the year.

“We do summer camps from where our coaches and other teams members select raw talent to nurture them at the centre. Every year, we run an induction programme at the centre in which we do overall assessments of participants and select those who are ideal candidates for weightlifting based on the results of the assessments. Also, our coaches go to all state-level competition to find out the talent and get them into centre for their further progress as a weightlifter,” said Sharma.

TENVIC has Anil Kumble’s quintessential vision of developing sports into an ecosystem rather than just focussing on athletes. “In our quest for Olympic and International sports glory we must promote sports at grassroots, to increase competition and in turn, develop champions. A larger pool of athletes will lead to more success at the top. To achieve success at the grassroots-level, we need to build a sporting culture equipped with educated coaches and sports science talent, safe spaces for our children to play and governance,” said Sharma, while explaining the centre’s motto.

The outreach programmes to scout for top talent in rural and tribal areas of Odisha have helped TENVIC unearth top talent. When it comes to the success stories, TENVIC has groomed athletes from rural Odisha like Jyoshna Sabar, Mina Santa and Hrudananda Das, who won medals at the international stage for India. “Recently, the centre conducted a summer camp under the aegis of the DSYS. It was attended by 500+ young lifters,” Sharma added.
When it come to the infrastructure, the centre in Kalinga stadium is one-of-its-kind world class facility with 12 training platforms and 1 competition platform (stage). The centre is fully air-conditioned which helps athletes to get trained throughout the year with any interference due to weather change. “We have our own physiotherapy rooms with all modern equipment and dedicated physiotherapists and masseurs to work towards rehabilitation and injury prevention. We also have in house facilities of counselling room and other administrative offices. Our centre also includes the hostel and mess facility as it’s a fully residential training centre,” Sharma added.

But, how is an athlete inducted into the centre? When an athlete arrives at the centre, he or she undergoes a series of assessments so that the trainers learnt about his or her strengths and challenges. The initial training is focussed on improving fundamentals. The athletes get to attend sessions by the streghtn and conditioning team. The athetes learn about the movement mechanics of weightlifting. This is followed by weightlifting specific training to improve performance under the directions of experts at the centre. Periodic interventions by physiotherapists and masseurs ensure lifters are at their best for every training session.

Additionally, at the Odisha TENVIC Weightlifting HPC, all lifters are supported with academic tutors to ensure that the children’s academics are not affected. “At the centre, we provide home-schooling to all our athletes with the help of a dedicated team of teachers. We ensure that our athletes don’t lag behind in academics. They are successfully completing school and college,” said Sharma.

Shining stars

• Jyoshna Sabar
• Mina Santa
• Hrudananda Das

Sub-centres in Odisha Sub-centres in Odisha

Weightlifting HPC Dhenkanal Sub-center: The Dhenkanal subcenter operates as a day-boarding facility, with TENVIC Sports Education Pvt Ltd employing two coaches responsible for weightlifting training and supervision. The centre accommodates a total of 30 athletes.

Ganjam Weightlifting Academy: The upcoming Ganjam Weightlifting Academy in Berhampur is poised to become the next focal point for weightlifting enthusiasts. This academy boasts a 200-bed hostel facility complete with a kitchen, gymnasium, and nutritionally balanced diet options, offering substantial support to the weightlifting community. Situated in the Berhampur Stadium premises, the academy features 19 Eleiko training platforms, 1 competition platform, and a dedicated set of Eleiko weightlifting equipment for each platform. The academy will serve as a feeder centre for the HPC, providing coaching, equipment, and assistance to aspiring weightlifters in the region.