It is learnt that the Gawda Kunbi Velip and Dhangar (GAKUVED) Federation has congratulated Babu Gaonkar from Netravali, Sanguem for clinching the first gold medal for Goa in ‘Modern Pentathlon’ in the ongoing 37th National Games at Goa. Incidentally, Gaonkar who brought laurels to Goa belongs to a tribal farmer family.
Gaonkar is indeed an inspiration to the youth of the tribal villages who probably do not get much support to pursue their passion in various sports disciplines. The government needs to promote sports in remote villages in a big way.
These youth should be given financial support to pursue a career in sports by providing proper training and exposure to competition. It needs to be noted that these youth come from poor families but could be burning with passion to achieve greatness in sports. With proper backing these sportspersons could even go ahead and represent the country at the international level. These youth need all the encouragement that comes their way. For a start the “golden boy” Babu Gaonkar could be offered a government job which could serve as a morale-booster.
