Dream Sports Foundation’s (DSF) Elite Athlete Development Program ‘One Dream One Lakshya’ (ODOL), in association with Lakshya Sports, has proven to be successful in transforming the careers of several athletes over the past year. Starting in July 2021, the program was designed to identify young Indian athletes showcasing potential and provide them with holistic and comprehensive support for their steady growth.
Seven rising stars – paddler Sreeja Akula, boxer Nupur Sheoran, Greco-Roman Wrestler Sunil Kumar, shooter Nupur Patil, boxer Devika Ghorpade, and shuttlers Tara Shah and Riya Habbu — who had been performing well in the domestic and national circuits, were shortlisted for the program.
As part of the program, the selected seven athletes were provided with necessary coaching, competition expenses, monthly stipend, sport-science requirements, and training equipment, along with national and international tournament exposures.
DSF also provided performance-based incentives to reward athletes for their progress over the year. The result of the program has been tremendous with paddler Sreeja Akula turning out to be one of the biggest success stories.
Sreeja made a steep jump in World Rankings, climbing to 69th position from 130th position, and also made it to India’s contingent for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, set to begin on 28th July 2022. Earning the opportunity to bring laurels to the country, Sreeja expressed her gratitude to the ‘One Dream One Lakshya’ program and explained how associating with DSF helped her in achieving her goals.
“With the support provided through ‘One Dream One Lakshya’, I could participate in more international tournaments which helped me improve my World Ranking, and earn an opportunity to compete at the prestigious Commonwealth Games 2022 and potentially the Asian Games that have been postponed to 2023.”
“It also enabled me to go for better physical and mental training and helped in consulting a qualified dietician. I have been able to focus on my all-around development and improve my physical and mental strength which in turn helped me to perform really well in the last year,” Sreeja added.
While Sreeja made it to CWG 2022 with help from support provided through DSF, shuttler Riya Habbu, who hails from Pune, was helped by the ‘One Dream One Lakshya’ program when she suffered an injury and had to undergo a rehabilitation process, just before U-19 State Championships.
“I was provided with the best physiotherapists, which helped me recover in a very short amount of time and I went on to win the U-19 State Championships recently,” Riya Habbu said.
“Since everything is resuming now after Covid, the program is providing more exposure to athletes with overseas training, and 360-degree support in terms of sports sciences. I am super grateful for the support from this great initiative,” she added.
Boxer Devika Ghorpade from Maharashtra, who recently claimed the Gold medal at the Youth National Boxing Championships (52 kgs) in Chennai, explained how help provided through the One Dream One Lakshya program helped her over the past year in maintaining and improving her performances.
“I would like to thank Dream Sports Foundation and Lakshya Sports for their support. Through them I got to know about Sports science aspects,” Devika said.
“They have provided my sports nutritionist which helps me to maintain my weight and my diet. They have also provided me with a mental conditioning coach, which has improved my game. Their sessions are helping me to be more confident throughout the matches and improve me as a person. I feel like my hard work has paid off,” she added.
Another rising badminton star Tara Shah, who also hails from Pune, was provided the opportunity by the program to travel to Denmark for training. Tara believes the exposure and experience of international training have helped her in improving her performance, as she recently claimed the Gold medal at the All India Junior (U-19) Ranking Badminton Tournament in Panchkula.
“I have been able to train in Denmark for over a month, and I have also received physiotherapy services which have helped me in becoming physically stronger. The program has helped me in all aspects of my game and in becoming a better player,” she said.
International boxer Nupur Sheoran, who hails from Haryana, and competes in the 75kg category, further elaborated that athletes were provided with the best training equipment as part of the program, and all their sports-science requirements were taken care of so that they can follow and maintain the world’s best practices in strength and conditioning..
“Besides aid for traveling for competition and support for maintaining a balanced diet and equipment, we also received a lot of help to fulfill requirements in sports science related areas, which we need to track and analyse important metrics. We are also being provided regular consultations with psychologists, which has helped us in improving our overall performances,” Nupur said.
Shooter Nupur Patil, who competes in the 10m Air Rifle category, said that the athlete development programs such as ‘One Dream One Lakshya’ will help sportspersons from all over the country to reach their maximum potential.
“Due to such athlete development programs, more Indian athletes are getting a chance to be in contention for events such as Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, and the Olympics. It is important to unearth and discover athletes from all parts of the country and aid them in achieving their highest potential. I am really thankful for the ‘One Dream One Lakshya’ program for creating this environment and setting up the platform,” she said.
Greco-Roman wrestler Sunil Kumar, who has been helped by the DSF’s program to maintain his physical fitness levels and avoid major injuries, further explained how such elite-athlete level programs will help in increasing popularity of sports in India.
“These programs will definitely help the young athletes win medals at major events such as the World Championships or at the Olympics. This will help in increasing the popularity of sports such as Athletics, Boxing, Wrestling, Boxing, etc. as people will want to watch sports beyond cricket or football to see their favourite athletes win,” Sunil said.
