In May 2022, a Sports Festival called Bolt took place on the Krea campus. The nine-day mega event, fully organised by the students, saw more than 150 participants across sixteen sport disciplines. Bringing together both experienced athletes and sports enthusiasts, Bolt 2022 excelled in exhibiting wonderful team spirit, fair competition and, above all, a lot of fun.
Johanna Zaheer Hashmi and Priyanka Prasanna Acharya, first-year students at SIAS, have been instrumental in spearheading and organising the event. Both are passionate athletes. Johanna has been playing football for ten years and competes in various track and field events including (but not limited to) vaulting, shot put, long jump, high jump, and cross-country running. She has studied taekwondo, karate and judo, and is currently learning boxing. She is incredibly passionate about sharing football with her peers and making sports fun for everyone, regardless of their skill or background. Priyanka has been a competitive rhythmic gymnast for the past 10 years and has represented India at Asian championships. She also enjoys kickboxing, running, and cycling. She has been an exercise enthusiast since her childhood and is interested in exploring and learning new sporting activities and sharing her experiences & skills with everyone.
What is Bolt 2022? When did this event take place?
Johanna: Bolt 2022 is the brainchild of the SIAS Sports Club and it is the first-ever Olympics festival held at Krea. It was a nine-day sporting event that was conducted from the 6th of May to the 15th of May 2022.
Could you tell us a bit about the Sports Club at Krea, its purpose, membership and organisational structure?
Priyanka: The Sports Club consists of 2 sports representatives, 13 sports heads, and approximately 130 club members. The sports club is divided into sports and non-sports wings, where all sports club members contribute toward building a sports culture at Krea. The sports heads propose events and ideas, which are discussed with the core committee and then the representatives to help make those events a reality. The sports club meets thrice a month to discuss the events, agendas, and goals for the trimester.
How was the idea of organising a week-long sports event at Krea conceived?
Johanna: Since we began our term, we’ve had in mind a sports event that would include all the sports students at Krea want to play. From discus throw to a marathon, we wanted to do everything under the sun. It started with the idea of a university-wide Olympics, that later got chiseled down to sports that we have the equipment for and sports we want to start playing at Krea. We had lots of conversations and meetings with the core committee and the sports heads, and together came up with Bolt. We also had meetings with the Office of Student Life (OSL), Vidhya Munuswamy, Dean of Student Affairs, and Bhavani Theagarajan, Manager, VC Office. We also spoke to the Operations Team about the required manpower that we would require before and during the sporting event. Bolt 2022 was conducted in collaboration with the Recreation Club, which handled the indoor sporting activities. Overall, it was an amazing experience that all the three batches were eagerly waiting for, and it was a hectic but engaging event to manage.
Which sports disciplines were included, and what made Bolt 2022 a success?
Priyanka: The Bolt 2022 sports events were divided into two categories: indoor and outdoor sports. The outdoor sports played were badminton, basketball, cricket, dodgeball, throw ball, volleyball, discus throw & shot put, tug of war, kabaddi, kho-kho, and half marathon (2.5 km). The indoor sports included were table tennis, carrom, chess, pool, foosball.
We estimate that over 150 students participated in Bolt 2022. We owe great debts of gratitude to the Dean of Student Affairs, CAO, OSL, Operations, and Bhavani for all the support throughout the Festival. We would also like to recognise the efforts of Anten Jesu, our trusty cameraman who documented our events. A big thank you to all the volunteers & referees who have selflessly contributed and helped us run the entire event smoothly and efficiently. We would also like to appreciate the efforts of the Sports Club Core Committee, without whom Bolt would not have happened. Last but definitely not least, a big thank you to the student body for bringing your talents and potential to the field and inspiring us to keep organising events like this.
Finally, we wish to acknowledge the great contribution of the thirteen Sports Heads who created Bolt 2022 from scratch, made it such a success, and now continue to shape all future sports initiatives at Krea:
Football Heads: Arjun Anand & Pria Jacob
Basketball Heads: Chirag Singhal & Smriti Venkatraman
Badminton Heads: Jeswin John & Adnan Qureshi
Cricket Heads: Hariom Khemka & Pranav Balakrishnan
Volleyball Heads: Aparajith Kaushik & Shruti Dalal
Miscellaneous Sports Heads: Rohit Behera & Smriti Mishra
Indoor & Gym Head: Arya Dutta
What future events is the Krea Sports Club planning?
Johanna: A few prospective events which we plan on conducting are faculty-student matches, track & field events, powerlifting, and a proper marathon in Sri City. We are also planning on starting self-defence classes and basic MMA training on campus, as many students are interested and would like to explore those disciplines. We are also planning on conducting more yoga workshops and staff-student matches to help inculcate a stronger sports culture at Krea.
Images Gallery
For more pictures and information regarding Bolt and other sporting activities at Krea, please check out Krea’s Sports Club Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/krea_sports/