Visakhapatnam: The Athletics Federation of India’s ambitious grass root programme, the National Inter-District Junior Athletics Meet (NID-JAM) has received a record entry for this year’s edition, which comes as a major boost to Indian athletics.

The AFI has received a total number of 3884 entries, which includes 2074 male athletes and 1210 female athletes for both the Under-16 and Under-14 age groups in the boys and girls categories for this year’s Championships. Around 600 coaches, both male and female, will be accompanying the teams. The Shriram
Properties NID-JAM is scheduled to be held in Visakhapatnam’s Diamond Jubilee Outdoor Stadium, from September 5-7.

The Government of Andhra Pradesh has come forward to support this path-breaking initiative which is arguably the biggest grass root initiative for any sports in India. The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri Nara Chandrababu Naidu Ji is expected to inaugurate the Opening Ceremony on September 5.

The AFI’s team of talent-hunter will also be spotting young talent at the Shriram Properties NID-JAM 2015 for the National Youth Camp on the basis of their performance here. The 2015 NID-JAM Championships will feature a total of 30 events in both track and field action in both age categories.

On this occasion, athletics legend and a medal winner at the IAAF World Championships, Anju Bobby George, who is expected to witness the Shriram Properties NID-JAM 2015, said, I’m excited about meeting the talent from almost all the districts in the country at the Shriram Properties NID-JAM 2015. The fact that almost all the districts champions will be performing at one place makes it a unique championships. It’s important to tap talent at the right age and provide them with good facilities and support system.”

On this occasion, the CEO of Shriram Proeperties, R. Balaji said, “As a passionate sports lover it is my dream to see Indian athletes win medals at the Olympics. We at Shriram Properties have been promoting athletics and road races in various cities and are extremely proud to be associated with the Athletics Federation of India and the Government of Andhra Pradesh for this path-breaking Championships.”