Fourteen-year-old Aswini Bai crouches on the start line, waiting for the whistle. As the shrill sound cuts through the still morning air at the Police Parade Grounds, Aswini takes off like the wind, leaping over the hurdles in an easy, flowing motion and finishing her lap in under 12 seconds.
Aswini is one of 30 girls drawn from different backgrounds, training at the Sahithi Academy of Sports. She hails from the hamlet of Chattu Thanda at Peda Bommala Puram mandal in Prakasam district and is practising for the 80 m hurdles. Slight of build, she is agile and is a fast runner, and boasts of a bronze medal that she won at the A.P. State Meet in Kadapa in 2018. However, her best is yet to come.
Aswini’s father K. G. Naik works as a watchman at a private school in Guntur, and the family stays in a two-room house located near the school.
Tough regimen
“I have been training here for the past two years. My training regimen lasts for two hours every morning. I am also competing in high jump from this year. My aim is to become an IAS officer,’’ says Aswini.
Most of the girls being trained by Sahithi Academy of Sports are from economically backward communities with little support from their families. The girls are given two hours of intensive training in the morning and in the evening.
Man behind it all
The man behind their training is Rodda Sivajee, a former national athlete and a state coach for many years. Sivaji founded the academy in memory of his daughter Sahithi in 2003, and has been running it on his own ever since. His interaction with local physical education teachers helps him identify talent at the school-level. He works on them, moulding them into athletes.
Among them is Kankanapati Susmita, a B. Com graduate, who has won 14 gold medals and three silver medals in various State and national competitions in 100 m hurdles and 400 m hurdles. Thota Aruna Jyothy is yet another champion athlete, winning bronze in the National Athletics Championship in 2012. Her father makes a living by selling vegetables.
Challenges
“When I founded the academy in 2003, things were not easy. Thanks to the support of successive Superintendents of Police in Guntur, I was able to use the Parade Grounds which has an excellent field track. Now, I have 30 girls competing at the highest level and my dream is to groom them into international athletes,’’ said Mr. Sivaji.
The achievements are many. Bindusri Madhavi clocked 14.6 seconds in the 110 m hurdles, D. Aswini cloaked 1.02 minutes in 400 m hurdles, and Inapudi Ramprasad clocked 10.8 seconds in 100 m running during their training sprints.
In spite of the track record, the support for sports academies is dismal. The Officers Club in Guntur sponsors the children’s track suits, while local businessmen foot their traveling expenses. Some others motivate the prize winners by announcing cash incentives.
“I am dreaming of a day when I can open a sports hostel so that all athletes would be at a single place. We need financial support to run this academy as we have to pay coaches, fitness trainers and provide quality food,” says Sivajee.
