Rourkela, April 11 (IANS) The much-awaited hockey summer camp in Odisha's Rourkela kicked off here at the iconic Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium amidst the cheers of kids and parents alike.

The hockey summer camp was inaugurated by international hockey player Peter Tirkey, additional SP of Rourkela, Sangram Keshari Behera & veteran hockey coach Kalu Charan Chaudhary and officials of Odisha Sports department.

The camp is an initiative of the Sports & Youth Services department of government of Odisha to encourage participation & inculcate hockey culture in Rourkela.

Being the first of its kind, the camp saw an overwhelming response of more than 750 registrations with kids in the age group 6-16, both boys and girls. In the first batch, 465 children have been admitted to the summer camp, said Nilesh Shetty, who is looking after the summer camp.

"We have divided the participants in two groups, 6-10 and 11-16 age groups, both boys and girls. One coach is there for every 10 to 15 participants, so that all kids will get maximum attention. Training is being provided to the children in 10 batches throughout the day," he said.

The camp will be of 12 days from April 11 to 22, where basic hockey drills along with other activities (strength & conditioning, nutrition, etc) will be taught. This will offer a good opportunity for kids to learn teamwork and make new friends while having fun on the turf.

The state team coaches Lajurus Barla, Praful Tirkey and Rajen Ekka along with junior coaches will oversee the camp and aim to scout talents from the camp.

The camp will implant the habit of sports and physical activity among the kids and also promote hockey among them. The kids will get a chance to learn from the best coaches at the world's largest hockey stadium

Thanking the Sports department for organising this camp, the parents expressed their delight that their kids will get a feel of the iconic stadium, make friends, learn new skills and may even take up hockey in the future.

On the first day of the camp, the kids were taken on a stadium tour that recently hosted the Men's Hockey World.

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