“It’s not whether you get knocked down. It’s whether you get up”
Every time we use the word ‘sportsman spirit’, we are reminded of our coaches and teachers telling us that in life ‘winning is not important, participation is.’ But “if winning is not everything, why do
they keep a score?’ The renowned American Football coach Vince Lombardi once again broke our age old notions by questioning why it is not just important to play, but play with your best. That’s what every participant fighting for the Pavna Cup pride themselves of. Organized between April 4 and April 12 in the DPS Sports Complex, Manglayatan Ground, the events saw a huge number of enthusiastic and passionate players giving their best to make their teams win. Whether it was in Kho-kho or cricket, the participants, irrespective of their gender and age braved themselves through all the rigorous rounds and rules to successfully come out on top. The Women’s Kho-kho competition which saw the quarter final and Semi-final on April 4 with teams from DPS Aligarh, Unit 3 (RED), PMPL, Pavna Electrics, Unit 3 (BLUE) and DPS Civil Lines, had its final on April 11 with staff from DPS Civil Lines and DPS Hathras as the winners. They played with all their passion, diligence and commitment for the game to beat the rest of the teams and bag the winner’s trophy.
The male staff from DPS Aligarh, DPS Civil Lines and DPS Hathras along with members of SSPL XI, HO XI, Unit 3 of Pavna Avengers, Pavna Electricals, Unit 3 of Pavna Discover, Unit 4 of Pavna Pulsar and
Unit 4 of Pavna Platina fought their battles in the cricket ground of Manglayatan in the DPS Sports Complex. Team A consisted of Pavna Avengers and Pavna Pulsar, whereas Team B consisted of Pavna Discover and Pavna Platina. The teams played their best together to promote DPS Aligarh, Pavna Discover, Pavna Pulsar and HO XI as the semi-finalists. The final match which took place on April 12 between Pavna Discover and HO XI gallantly celebrated HO XI as its proud winner. Like they always say “May the best team win”, HO XI proved their skills and talent in the game of cricket with their passion and love for the sport bagging the very renowned Pavna Cup.
As Ken Doherty rightly said, “The 5 S’s of sports training are stamina, speed, strength, skill and spirit, but the greatest of these is spirit.” Sporting events like this not only brings out new talents and showcases their skills to the world, but celebrates the sportsman spirit in the true sense of the term, and makes every participant eagerly wait for the event the next year.
