Avtar Singh, a former international cyclist and veteran coach of intellectually impaired, has been elected as secretary of Jharkhand Para Sports Association (JPSA).
Seventy-one-year-old Singh was elected during the 20th annual general meeting and election which was held virtually on Monday. Two representatives each from 24 districts of the state attended the meeting under the supervision of returning officer and Patna High Court lawyer Madhu Srivastava.
Besides Jamshedpur-based Singh, others who were elected include Shashi Ranjan Prasad Singh (president), Baijnath Sharma, Usha Manaki (vice-presidents), Deepa Choudhary (joint secretary), Sugandh Narayan Prasad (treasurer) and Niranjan Kumar Mandal (member).
The elected office bearers have promised to take JPSA to new heights by working at the grassroots in village, panchayat, block, district and state level to promote the challenged and help them win medals in national and international competitions.
Expressing happiness, Singh, a resident of Jamshedpur’s Sonari area and a seven- time national cycling champion, said, “I will utilise my vast experience in promoting the challenged in Jharkhand and also try to bring them to the social mainstream,” he added.
The septuagenarian captained the Indian cycling team in the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi and has been adjudged fastest cyclist of the country several times. He has coaching diplomas from National Institute of Sports (Patiala), Germany and Malaysia.
He is the only trainer from Asia to be invited as a technical official for three Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai (2007), Los Angeles (2015) and Abu Dhabi (2019) by the Special Olympic Games organising committee.
He has progressed from community, state, national and a regional trainer of Asia Pacific countries.
He was honoured with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Award in lifetime category by Samarpan and Bihar Disabled Sports Academy.
After retiring from the sport, Singh dedicated his life to the cause of special athletes. He has been training and channelising the lives of the special athletes for over three decades now. He has produced 10 athletes who have won medals in international competitions organised under the banner of Special Olympics International (SOI).
Singh runs Jeevika, an NGO involved in promotion of the mentally challenged, with his wife Sukhdeep Kaur.
“We use the NGO to bring our students to the social mainstream. Some of our students have got married and are leading a happy life. Besides sports and fitness drills, we train them on how to make Diwali diyas, paper bags and rakhis. We have also taught them the importance of social distancing, greet people with namaste and to regularly wash their hands,” the seasoned mentor signed off.
