SHAURYA is the annual inter-college sports and games meet of IIT Kharagpur. First conceptualized in 2008, Shaurya provides a platform for students from colleges across India to showcase their talent and compete with each other in a variety of sport events.
The main aim of Shaurya has been, and remains to this day, to promote a sporting culture, and thus foster the spirit of sportsmanship, strength of character, persistence, teamwork, conviction and flexibility in today’s youth. IIT Kharagpur, which has the largest college campus in India, is an ideal location for such a large congregation to come together. This, along with access to some of the best sports equipments, tracks, fields and courts, makes Shaurya an excellent platform for growing athletes and sportspersons, giving them the confidence and experience they require to represent India at the highest levels.
Even in its very first edition, Shaurya showed a lot of promise, capturing the interest of more participants and spectators than what was expected. From 2008 to 2009 the growth was exponential. It was a very successful debut, the kind any of fest would crave for. This growth became apparent when in 2009 Shaurya was sponsored by names like ITC, DLF and MCL and received media attention like it had never before. Shaurya received a total of 1600 participants from colleges across India, with a total footfall of 10,000 that year.
In this edition of Shaurya, to be held from the 29th of October to the 31st of October, 2010 events for boys will be organized in Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Table Tennis, Tennis and Volleyball; whereas for the girls the events consist of Badminton, Basketball and Table Tennis. Like every year, this year too Shaurya’10 will conduct a number of fun games, workshops, performances by professional groups and several “pre-events” for the entertainment of the general public.
By associating each event with different sports federations, Shaurya encourages upcoming young sportspersons by providing them official, recognized certificates for their achievements during the meet. This goes a long way in helping spot potential talent, and helps provide the participants a future in sports through these federations.
Shaurya is also committed towards society and last year funded the Annual sports budget of the school run by the NGO Gopali Youth Welfare Society [GYWS] at Gopali, 5km from the IIT Campus. Shaurya is also planning to organise annual sports meet in the village in collaboration with the people to uplift the level of sports in rural areas to open up new avenues in sports to those living in rural areas.
Marathons and blood donation camps are also conducted each year for causes like saving the environment as a part of a larger contribution to society. These are conducted in association with other well known NGOs
Shaurya 2010 promises to be a huge success by all standards. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SHAURYA 2010