1 Play Sports, a community, local, and grassroots level sports production & streaming company, came together with Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Olympic Education Committee (IOEC) to live-stream an International Webinar on Olympism and Olympic Education in the 21st Century held on 11th & 12th June 2020 from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm (IST)
1 Play Sports streamed the webinar live across its social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Helo on both 11th and 12th June. Day 1 of the webinar received honorable Shri. Kiren Rijiju, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, as Chief Guest during the inaugural session and Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra, President, Indian Olympic Association, Mr. Santosh K Mall, Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Mr. Prashant Kushwaha, Chairman, IOEC and other distinguished Olympic dignitaries as speakers for the day.
“I am very impressed with the list of participation in these 2 days of the International Webinar on Olympism & Olympic Education in the 21st Century. Personally, I am very excited to see such things taking place and India being proactive in taking part in this global Olympic movement. The value and spirit of the Olympic movement have to get deep-rooted in Indian society as it sends a great message of unity”, mentioned the Honorable Minister Kiren Rijiju as he began to address the audience.
Dr. Batra, President, Indian Olympic Association, said, “I would like to thank Prashant Kushwaha, Chairman of IOEC, for taking this initiative at such short notice. Sporting activity in India is improving from the grassroots level, successful initiatives such as Khelo India games, Youth games, University games taken by the honorable Minister have revived the sporting culture in India.”
Mr. Prashant Kushwaha, Chairman, Indian Olympic Education Committee, on behalf of the committee, suggested having an Olympic Museum in India, bringing Olympic education into the school curriculum & creating a quota for Olympic Education & Olympism in the HRD scheme. The honorable Minister welcomed the suggestions & mentioned that he would be considering them and taking the discussion forward.
“We were incredibly happy with the technology and professionalism provided by 1 Play Sports in the telecast capacity as the broadcast partner. Given the extent of the reach of 1 Play Sports on social media, we were able to create a massive presence across their multiple platforms simultaneously, we received a whopping 8.6 million live views during the 2 days of the webinar, and have nearly 30,000 registrations from individuals interested in Olympic Education”, said Kushwaha
Day 2 of the webinar saw eminent speakers including Jennifer Keurulainen (Senior Director, Sports Special Olympics, Southern California, USA), Prof Hisashi Sanada (Professor, Academy of Sports, University of Tsukuba, Japan), Dr. Niki Koutrou (School of Sports & Exercise Sciences, University of Kent, UK), Dr. Catherin Carty (UNESCO Chair Manager, Ireland), and many more.
At the webinar’s conclusion, Neha Singh Warrier, Country Manager, India, 1 Play Sports said, “It was a pleasure working with Mr. Kushwaha and the rest of the team. This event is a great initiative by the IOEC to increase awareness of Olympism and the spirit of the Olympic games. The opportunity to bring the vision of leaders to a live audience is a privilege. We are proud to work with IOEC and deliver this webinar to sports enthusiasts in India and worldwide and hope to work again with them in the future.”
The valedictory session saw Dr. Ramesh K Goyal, Vice-Chancellor at Delhi Pharmaceutical Science, Mr. Anshul Bagai, Director of Academy of Sports Science Research & Management, Mr. Mohit Lalvani, CEO of 1 Play Sports, and many other dignitaries.