Champs Foundation: Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar present to celebrate 25 Years of Foundation

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It was a star-studded night at the Silver Jubilee function of the CHAMPS Foundation, as friends and well-wishers gathered to commemorate the occasion, among them fellow trustee G R Vishwanath, members of the 1983 World Cup winning team, current India coach, Rahul Dravid, chief of selectors, Ajit Agarkar, to name a few along with head honchos from diverse fields.

CHAMPS, which stands for 'Caring, Helping, Assisting, Motivating, Promoting, Sportspersons' was started in 1999 by Sunil Gavaskar after reading news reports of sportspersons who had brought laurels to the country but had unfortunately fallen on hard times after their sporting careers came to an end. CHAMPS Foundation began as an initiative to recognize and reward these deserving sportspersons and has been doing so anonymously for the last 25 years.

"I thank the media for highlighting these issues 25 years ago, which prompted me to start the CHAMPS Foundation and it was my team members from the 83 winning team that came forward selflessly to help the initiative," said Gavaskar, while speaking at the function. The first activity of the Foundation began with a double wicket tournament, where corporate heads were invited to partner with one member of the team to participate.

"I am humbled, being in the presence of so many great cricketers and thank Sunny Bhai for giving me the opportunity of attending this function," said Dravid. "It's sad when sports persons, who give their all to achieve excellence and win laurels for the country, fall on hard times and they deserve to be taken care of," added Dravid while acknowledging the efforts and work of CHAMPS Foundation.

Also present on the occasion were Kapil Dev, Mohinder Amarnath, Dilip Vengsarkar, former trustee of the Foundation Khalid Ansari, besides leading names from the Corporate world.

The occasion was also used the announce the tie-up of the CHAMPS Foundation with Spartan, the toughest obstacle race in the world, which will be brought to India by PMG. A part of the proceeds from the Spartan races will be handed over to the Foundation to supplement its activities.

(An Excerpt from Agency)