60 locals trained to become Sports Coaches under AU Bank’s ‘Bano Champion’ Program
Jaipur, 30th June 2022: AU Small Finance Bank, under its CSR project ‘Bano Champion,’ organized a 5-day training program at Jaipur for sports coaches from rural and semi-urban areas of Rajasthan. Incepted in 30 locations across Rajasthan in October 2021, the project has touched base upon 30 new locations with over 6000 students enrolled under 60 professionally trained coaches like Gopal Saini, Arjuna Award winner & President, Rajasthan Athletics Association, Aditi Mutatkar – Silver Medalist in Commonwealth Games & others.
The training program for sports coaches started on Monday, 21st June 2022, and continued for 5 days. The training program covered sports like football, throwball, and athletics. To promote the participation of women, the program also included sessions on training girls and sharing insights on child protection modules.
Talking about the Bano Champion project and the sports training program, Yogesh Jain, Chief of Staff said, “Sports is one of the prominent areas wherein AU Small Finance Bank work. There is a lack of guided sports training in rural and semi-urban areas in India. We aim towards bringing a systemic change in how sports are viewed and practiced in these areas. Such programs inculcate sports culture amongst the youth at large, and train and motivate them to excel. The Bano Champion project is operational in 16 districts of Rajasthan and aspires to train over 12,000 children across all locations.”
Immense support and enthusiasm have been observed among the youth, community representatives, and government officials at the very nascent stage. This has helped the program to grow and expand extensively.
Gopal Saini, President of Rajasthan Athletics Association said, “India has the potential to excel in the field of sports. We can lead the medal tally at international sports events if the children are trained for the same right from the beginning. There is a need for professionally trained sports coaches. I am hopeful that there will be more projects like Bano Champion that will be implemented across India.”
Reinvigorating sports at the grassroots and improving the skills of young children, AU Bank in partnership with TheSportsKartail is also enabling the youth to perform in sports competitions at District, State, and National levels.
