One morning at Sigra decides the district team: open junior athletics trials on 18 August

If there is a runner in your house, tomorrow is the day to show up. The District Athletics Association holds an open trial for the junior athletics team on 18 August at Dr. Sampurnanand Sports Stadium in Sigra, and the team picked that morning will carry the district's name to the state championship. The trial is open across four age groups, each fixed by date of birth: under-20 for those born between 17 September 2006 and 16 September 2008, under-18 for 17 September 2008 to 16 September 2010, under-16 for 17 September 2010 to 16 September 2012, and under-14 for 17 September 2012 to 16 September 2014. The under-20 programme runs the full range — sprints and distance events from 100m to 5000m, hurdles, steeplechase, jumps, throws and race walk — with the same spread in shortened form for the younger groups. Under-14 athletes have a kids' javelin event on the compulsory list. Selection does not stop at the district. Athletes chosen at Sigra will represent Varanasi at the 61st UP State Open Junior Athletics Championship in Prayagraj from 23 to 25 August, and the best performers there go on to the North Zone championship in Dehradun from 14 to 16 September. The announcement came from the association's secretary, Ramesh Kumar Yadav.

Compiled by HelloBanaras from public sources: Amar Ujala