Building on the roaring success of the inaugural edition of the Khelo India School Games, the Sports Ministry along with Star Sports has started the countdown to "Khelo India Youth Games, Maharashtra 2019" with the evocative "#5MinuteAur" campaign, it was announced on Sunday.
The upcoming season will be held across 18 sporting disciplines in the Under-17 and Under-21 age categories.
Commenting on the development, Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said: The success of Khelo India School Games is a testimony to the hunger and multitude of sporting talent in India. Buoyed by the terrific response for Khelo India School Games and with an aim to increase participation in sports across all age groups, we have not just added two sports this year but the games will also be played under two age categories U-17 and U-21 to allow even more enthusiasts to participate and flourish.
"The '5 minute aur' campaign for 2019 to be hosted in Pune, Maharashtra is a reflection of the immense strides we've made and the journey that lies in front of us to make India a truly sporting nation. We hope it will inspire India to work towards incorporating sports as a way of life," he added.
The #5MinuteAur campaign created this year has a simple insight -- we are all born with an inherent instinct to play, kids and adults alike.
"The first edition of Khelo India exceeded expectations and instilled an aspiration for sports amongst the youth in India and now, with "5 minute aur", we are aiming to trigger more pro sport conversations to make India adopt sports as a way of life. The campaign calls for the Indian sports enthusiast to not only support their heroes, but also work towards emulating their feats," Sanjay Gupta, Managing Director, Star India said.
The coverage of the upcoming season will include live telecast in five languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and English) and telecast of all 18 disciplines for both age groups.
--IANS
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