Sixteenth President Running Shield and Fifth Mayor's Cup to be held in Pokhara from Poush 9

Pokhara. The Sixteenth President Running Shield and Fifth Mayor's Cup School Sports Competition will be held in Pokhara from upcoming Poush 9. The preparation for the competition, organized by the Pokhara Metropolitan Sports Development Committee, and running till Poush 11, has begun.

According to Deepak Bahadur Godar, the Chairman of the Pokhara Metropolitan Sports Development Committee, the competition will feature contests in six categories: Wushu, Karate, Taekwondo, Volleyball, Kabaddi, and Athletics. He mentioned that this competition is being organized with cash prizes to professionalize sports.

This year's competition is expected to see the participation of more than 140 schools, including private and community schools. The organizers are preparing to involve as many schools as possible, as greater school participation will help in producing better athletes. Chairman Godar believes that the competition will help develop sports and produce athletes right from the grassroots level.

Coaches have also been assigned to conduct and manage the games in the competition. Accordingly, Ram Bahadur Lamichhane is the coach for Volleyball, Sagar Bhandari for Kabaddi, Gop Bahadur Adhikari for Athletics, Dilip Lama for Wushu, Niraj Bahadur Nepali for Taekwondo, and Dhan Lama for Karate.

In the context of the competition, the Pokhara Metropolitan Sports Development Committee held a discussion with the Management and Directives Committee on Friday. Participants in the discussion suggested that preparations should be made meticulously to make the competition effective.

Since the competition will involve grassroots-level athletes, they stressed the need to inform them about discipline and rules, among other things, to hone their skills.

Suggestions were also given to focus on management to avoid shortcomings in the program, and to take action if 'fake' students are found participating. Chairman Godar stated that efforts will also be made to increase the participation of community schools in the competition.