At Simply Sport, athlete support is one of the initiatives undertaken that aims to identify and support deserving athletes in their journey to excellence. We started the program at the start of 2021 and now it's been more than 6 months since we have helped 2 talented athletes - Divya Satija and Karthik Sathish. The areas of support includes - financial support, mental wellness, yoga, and nutrition. The pandemic situation was a stumbling block for the athletes as they struggled to get necessary training and competition time, but the athletes have kept themselves motivated to return strongly to the arena.
We take a glance on how their journey has been so far along with first-hand testimonials from the athletes themselves.
Karthik Sathish
Karthik Sathish is a pro boxer from Chennai, Tamilnadu, and an undaunted striver to be a World Champion in pro boxing. He is currently training at Cult, Bangalore where he also works as a senior boxing trainer. He is currently ranked third in pro-boxing in India with an undisputed record of (7-0) 3 KOs and is a 3-time National Champion. Karthik has been boxing for the past 12 years and has won several championships at junior and senior levels, he is undoubtedly one of the finest boxers in the country.
Simply Sport Foundation has been assisting Karthik in his boxing career through various programs. Karthik says his performance has improved drastically due to the support he has received from Simply Sport, particularly after the lockdowns imposed due to the pandemic when he had an overall tough time. The financial aid provided helped free up time for more training, which was earlier spent working to earn money. The mental wellness program helped Karthik develop focus towards his game and career, develop an overall positive mindset, and handle personal issues well. The timely nutrition assistance he received by consulting with the nutritionist who helped him chart out a diet plan made him stay healthy and strong.
“I want to thank Simply Sport Foundation and Ankit for all the support and opportunities. What the organisation is doing is indeed noble; it means a lot not only for athletes like me but also our families,” he said. Karthik now has his eyes set on an upcoming international tournament to be held in Dubai and hopes to win the Asian title
Divya Satija
Divya Satija, born in Faridabad, Haryana is a national swimmer and the current national record holder in the 50 meters butterfly event. She presently trains at Dolphin Aquatics, Bangalore, and has some incredible performances to her name. At the 2019 South Asian Games, she achieved a ‘golden’ performance, not only winning a stupendous 4 gold medals but also setting national records in all of them. at the 2021 Olympic qualification meet held in Uzbekistan, she bagged 2 gold medals.
As for Simply Sport Foundation, she holds that the support was phenomenal and extremely helpful for her sports career. She expressed how SSF programs helped her overcome the hardships caused due to the pandemic. Restrictions on access to pools and training centers left Divya worrying. Mental wellness sessions helped her overcome these barriers and the stress that followed. She learned that it is not perfection or medals but the improvement that matters most. Yoga sessions helped improve her flexibility, muscle strength, respiratory capacity, and overall energy. The nutrition support she received via timely supplements has helped her stay healthy and strong.
“I’m very thankful for what I’m getting from Simply Sports. Right now, everything is well covered - mental health, nutrition, and mobility assistance (through yoga),” she said. Divya is now working towards breaking her own personal best performances and setting a national record in the 100m butterfly event. She strongly believes in setting smaller, short-term goals and taking things one step at a time in order to realize her ambitions.
Meanwhile, our 3rd athlete, Sandhya Rai, has just started the journey with us as she is preparing to play for India in the sport of Rugby. She will be attending the upcoming national camp in Odisha as soon as the dates are confirmed.
Our flagship athlete support program will be named ‘The Athlete Launchpad’ which will see more junior athletes being added to it. The shortlisting process for athletes for the program has already started wherein we received 100 applications from aspiring athletes. The final selected athlete's list will be announced in the coming days.
If you wish to support our initiative/athletes or partner with us, then do reach out to us at - marketing@simplysport.in
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