Principal Secretary, Youth Services and Sports, (YSS) Alok Kumar, on Tuesday declared open the Youth Services and Sports cricket Cup at Kashmir University here.
Alok Kumar, while congratulating the department for organizing sports tournaments for J&K youth especially student players, hoped that the young boys and girls from the UT would take maximum benefit from such type of sports tournaments by ensuring their active participation in the coaching camps and the tournaments.
He assured that the young sports enthusiasts would be helped and encouraged at every level to do better in the game of their choice. “To infuse a sense of competition and make these sports competitions more interesting and full of excitement, YS&S department is giving away cash prizes of 50 thousand for first position, 30 thousand for second position and Rs 20 thousand for third position under YSS Cup-21.” stated the Principal Secretary.
The inaugural ceremony of the tournament began with the pledge taking ceremony. The oath signifies fair play by athletes, who stand for competing respectfully without any misbehavior.
Colorful cultural presentations by the students of Girls Higher Secondary School Kothibagh and the artists of the Malangs Band mesmerized the audience.
Joint Director YS&S Kashmir, Bashir Ahmed, while providing details pertaining to cricket tournament, said that district teams from 19 districts of the UT are taking part in the sports extravaganza. He further stated that 270 student players are taking part in the 6 days long cricket tourney and more than 200 YSS officials have been deputed for the successful conduct of the YSS Cup Cricket.
He, while sharing the overwhelming and very encouraging figures of youth participation in sports activities during 2021-22, said during the previous year more than 10 lakh youth participated in the sports activities organized by the department across Jammu and Kashmir.
Pertinently, registrations are open for the next edition of YSS Cup-22. The interested teams can get themselves registered from every panchayat in the sports disciplines of Cricket, Volleyball, Kabbadi and Kho-Kho at the concerned Zonal Physical Education Offices.
Inaugural ceremony of the tournament was also attended by Registrar University of Kashmir, Professor Nissar Ahmed, Director Department of Physical Education, Kashmir University, Professor Showkat Ahmed, DYSSO Srinagar, Balbir Singh, Deputy Director Physical Education KU, Tauseef Ahmed and hundreds of young sports enthusiasts and officials of the department of Youth Services & Sports.