Grants INR 30 crore towards nurturing champions by providing a comprehensive support system for high performing athletes, coaches and academies
Bengaluru, India – May 2, 2023: Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic and CSR arm of Infosys, today announced that it is collaborating with GoSports Foundation to build the ‘Girls for Gold Program’, a high-performance excellence program for junior and emerging women athletes. This program, spanning an initial term of four years, will identify and support progression of talented Indian women athletes between 13 to 19 years of age through collaborations with high potential academies and coaches in India. The program will include scholarships, coaching, access to academies, and performance recognition.
The program will follow a three-pronged approach. First, it will establish a strong cohort of women athletes who will be equipped to compete at the international level, help them build sustainable careers, and nurture them to become role models for the next generation. Secondly, it will build a pipeline of qualified and capable coaches who will help realize the aspirations of athletes and create an atmosphere of sustained sporting excellence. Third, it will help tech-enable the identified academies to make them world class training centers.
The first cohort of supported academies range across five sporting disciplines, that comprise shooting, boxing, weightlifting, table tennis and badminton. The academies identified as the inaugural beneficiaries of the program are:
- Lakshya Shooting Club
- Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation
- Sathish Sivalingam Weightlifting Foundation
- Raman TT High Performance Centre
- Yadav Pro Badminton Academy
More academies may be considered for support as the program expands. A Champions Advisory Board has been created, comprising sports personalities that include former Indian shooter and Arjuna awardee Suma Shirur, former national table tennis champion B Bhuvaneswari, and amateur boxing champion and Padma Vibhushan awardee MC Mary Kom.
“We truly appreciate Infosys Foundation’s commitment to creating cutting-edge avenues for girls and young women to become sporting champions for India. The holistic model of the ‘Girls for Gold Program’ builds the ecosystem by investing in human and institutional capacity and creating talent pathways for future generations. We are confident of the impact that this unique program will have on the lives and careers of women athletes we will support and, more broadly, on Indian sport”, said, Deepthi Bopaiah, CEO – GoSports Foundation.
Sumit Virmani, Trustee, Infosys Foundation, said, “At Infosys Foundation, a deep-rooted focus on education and women empowerment have been a key priority over the years. Collaborating with GoSports Foundation furthers this long-standing commitment to empower aspiring women athletes with a holistic ecosystem that can help nurture their dreams. Excellence in sports is a driver of social change and we are confident that this collaboration will help these talented young women realize their potential in sports, in an environment amplified with scientific, and tech-enabled processes.”
About GoSports Foundation
The GoSports Foundation is a national award-winning non-profit organization working towards the development of over 200 of India’s talented, emerging and elite athletes, competing across Olympic, Paralympic, Commonwealth, and Asian Games disciplines, through its scholarship, support, and knowledge-building programs.
For more information, visit: www.gosportsfoundation.in
About Infosys Foundation
Established in 1996, the Infosys Foundation supports programs in the areas of education, rural development, healthcare, women empowerment, arts and culture, and destitute care. Its mission is to work with the underprivileged across the country and strive towards a more equitable society. The Infosys Foundation takes pride in working with all sections of society, selecting projects with infinite care, and working in areas that are traditionally overlooked by society at large.
For more details, please log on: https://www.infosys.com/infosys-foundation
About Infosys
Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. Over 300,000 of our people work to amplify human potential and create the next opportunity for people, businesses, and communities. With over four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer clients, in more than 50 countries, as they navigate their digital transformation powered by the cloud. We enable them with an AI-powered core, empower the business with agile digital at scale and drive continuous improvement with always-on learning through the transfer of digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem. We are deeply committed to being a well-governed, environmentally sustainable organization where diverse talent thrives in an inclusive workplace.
