Scholarships for Indian Athletes Announced by Loughborough University to Be Declared in the Name of Late
It would be best to say that one of the most conclusive factors for the future of Indian sports is perhaps that Loughborough University is mooting a new sports scholarship for young athletes in India.
Announcing the Virend
This scholarship has been set up in the name of Virendra Kumar Dhall as the Virendra Kumar Dhall Scholarship for Sporting Excellence to Aman Dhall an Indian entrepreneur, strategic investor, and table tennis player.
This is a dedicated effort for the legendary Indian sportspeople who marked their presence at the Paris 2024 Olympics Neeraj Chopra, Manu Bhaker, and PR Sreejesh. It wants to extend this financial support to students from all walks of India who are already engaging at the international level and on their way toward marking the presence of India in their respective sports.
Details of The Scholarship
This scholarship will be for five years and will be of a value amounting to £12,500. An award of up to £2,500 per year will be given to eligible students. This financial support will help cover the training and competition expenses involved in top performance sports, such as:
Traveling connected with trials and competitions
Equipment and kit
Coaching fees
Nutritional advice
Gym membership
The scholarship would be provided at undergraduate, postgraduate, and Ph.D. levels for students studying full time and part-time at Loughborough University. This would help those athletes who come from a weak financial background and hence are unable to excel in the field of sports.
Aman Dhall’s Vision and Motivation
It was created by Aman Dhall, MSc Sport Management from Loughborough University in 2010-11, in memory of his late father, who always wanted to see him represent the country. Much of Dhall’s journey, in fact, will resonate with many a young athlete as it wasn’t easy for him early in his career due to overwhelming financial issues that made engaging in professional sport full-time extremely difficult.
From personal experience, Aman Dhall hopes to ‘pay forward’ in the provision of this scholarship toward helping groom the next generation of Indian athletes. “The scholarship is in his memory, as he was the one who believed, until his last breath, that one day, I would represent India. I hope, through the grant of this scholarship, to support talented Indian athletes in overcoming the challenges that I once faced, in order to enable them to reach their potential and live their dreams.”
Loughborough University’s Commitment to Sports Excellence
For years, Loughborough University has been the local grounds for all things sporting excellence, turning talent into the highest levels of competition. This is where India’s youth sporting icon, Neeraj Chopra, learned to throw a javelin; but it also has been a home for others in the likes of international sporting figures like Lord Sebastian Coe, Adam Peaty, and Paula Radcliffe.
“We want to welcome exciting talent from around the world who will benefit from the outstanding performance sport programs here at Loughborough University, and our new scholarship for sporting excellence shall ensure that young Indian athletes are empowered to do this,” added Nick Jennings, the Vice-Chancellor at Loughborough University.
He also emphasized that the scholarship is in direct alignment with the strategic vision of the university: “Our University strategy, Creating Better Futures. Together, places great focus on excelling in sport and using our preeminence to create new opportunities to enhance the experience of both our students and athletes across sport globally. Aman Dhall’s generosity and support through this scheme share precisely this vision.”
Aman Dhall’s Sporting Legacy
In addition to his success at the academic level, Aman Dhall was active in sports. During his study at Loughborough University, he played for Loughborough University Table Tennis Team and represented Leicestershire County. In the beginning of his sporting career, Dhall had represented the state of Uttar Pradesh. In Rome recently, Dhall was able to achieve something close to him on a personal level in his participation in the age category 40+ at the ITTF World Masters Table Tennis Championship 2024.
So, the scholarship acts as a tribute to his father, Virendra Kumar Dhall; it is more an expression on Dhall’s part toward the cultivation of excellence in sports, as well as facilitating fellow athletes.
Impact and Future Prospects
The Virendra Kumar Dhall Scholarship will, without doubt, prove to be an impetus to the Indian athletes who, for quite some time now, are suffering from the pangs of poverty with the wherewithal for excellence in sports. Coupled with the ideals of Loughborough University in creating high traditions in sports and commitment toward the cause of global talent grooming, this scholarship no doubt aligns with its ideals of fostering excellence in athletics and supporting future champions.
In its first year of operation, the scholarship, in its future reigns, is further set to attract and hold the masses of interested talented athletes and thereby contribute to the bigger goal of building better sports training and performances globally.
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