Kakinada: Around 150 athletes, including 30 women, who trained in sports hostels during the combined Andhra Pradesh era will participate in a reunion meeting at Sri Venu Gopal Auditorium in Marteru, West Godavari district, on May 3.
The event is being organised by the Sports Hostellers Welfare Association. Association president Dr Venkateswara Reddy said the athletes had honed their skills in various disciplines, representing the state at national and international levels.
He said the Andhra Pradesh government, through the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh, had established the Hyderabad Main Sports Hostel and regional hostels in Vijayawada, Kadapa and Medak to identify and nurture sporting talent from rural areas and produce athletes of national calibre.
All former hostel trainees who achieved distinction in different sports disciplines are expected to attend the reunion, he added.
Association secretary Ramireddy said many former athletes are now employed in state and central government departments in senior positions, while others have retired and continue to promote sports.
He noted that sports hostels were established in 1981 and functioned until the late 1990s, training hundreds of athletes who went on to represent the state and the country in various disciplines, including participation in the Olympics, Asian Games and other international events.
Reunion organising committee conveners Rajanala Venkateswara Rao alias Ayya, a retired APSRTC senior manager, and S. Subbanna Reddy, Narsapuram RTC depot manager, said the meeting would discuss measures needed to strengthen sports development in both Telugu states.
They said the participants would formulate an action plan and submit representations to the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, seeking greater support for sports and suggesting steps for its development.
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