It all goes back to 1952 when His Divine Holiness Hariprasad Swamiji had envisioned that the students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir be not only sound academically and spiritually but also strong physically. That manifestation of Pragat Guruhari is being worked upon every single day on the sports grounds of AVM with sweat dripping down and consistent bursts of soaring agility. AVM sports team never leaves a stone unturned in order to make students competent and skilled in various games and sports. One such example of building a perfect frame of students was their participation in the U-19 Surat Rural – District Level (State selection) Basketball Tournament at RMG Maheshwari School, Ladvi.
It was a beautiful morning on 14th September 2023 when AVM’s basketball team reached the venue of the tournament. Amidst crimson sun rays hitting our heads. Paras Sir, the host of this event, looked at his watch which showed 8:00 A.M. He welcomed the school principal and vice-principal to start this exciting event with an encouraging speech. Within no time, the fixtures were announced. AVM’s Basketball team’s coach, Bankim Sir, and team manager Bhautik Sir informed the players that they had got their first round as a bye and they had also qualified for the 1st round. AVM’s second match was with the Vasishtha Genisis School team. AVM’s team was being keenly observed by all the coaches as they were selecting the best players to be sent for state-level competition. Witnessing AVM basketball team’s good performance on the ground, all the other players and coaches were cheering the AVM team. Though AVM players gave a tough challenge to the opponents but ended up losing with the final score of 7-12.
After the match, the AVM team asked for valuable feedback from other coaches and sought their advice to help them improve to win next time. As the team returned to the school premises, all were grateful and felt encouraged to work harder next time. Nevertheless, the AVM basketball team had put up a good contest and were determined to train even harder next time. With Swamiji’s grace, two players from the AVM basketball team are selected for the Surat Rural state level team.
| Name of Participants | Grade |
| Aatman S Patel | 10 |
| Jay R Patel | 11 Com |
| Jesal K Madaliya | 11 Com |
| Kartik K Kathiriya | 11 Com |
| Pankaj A Bhakta | 11 Com |
| Saumya B Savaliya | 11 Com |
| Aatman V Patel | 11 Sci |
| Ambrish A Bodra | 11 Sci |
| Dev H Patel | 11 Sci |
| Sudarshan B Patel | 11 Sci |
| Tanmay N Patel | 11 Sci |
Ambrish Bodra, Sudarshan Patel (Grade 11)
