Shree Mavli Mandal: Celebrating 100 years of sports commitment

Mumbai: “We believe in igniting the spark of champions…” The line instantly catches your attention while going through the profile of the Shree Mavli Mandal Trust from Thane on social media.

The motto ‘we believe in igniting the spark of champions’ means an organisation believes in fostering the potential for greatness within individuals, helping them reach their full potential and achieve exceptional results. It suggests a commitment to nurturing talent, encouraging ambition, and empowering individuals to become the best versions of themselves.

Shree Mavli Mandal has been living this motto for the last 100 years. Established on August 1, 1925, the organisation, which is a charitable trust, has left an indelible mark on Thane’s sporting world. It has a strong emphasis on sports, offering programmes and facilities to support students’ athletic development. They promote various sports including Kho-Kho, Gymnastics, Football, Athletics, Bodybuilding and Kabaddi.

The founder members Shakarrao Yadav and Shankarrao Bhoir, who were extreme sport lovers, dreamt to serve the society by starting a well-equipped sports centre in the city. Initially launched as ‘Mavli Mela,’ the organisation took an initiative to bring together children and youths of Thane city by conducting various sporting activities that included local games like Hututu, Atyapatya, Viti-Dandu, and Lagori for their overall personality development. Inspired by these founder members, Sudhir Yadav joined the organisation and carried forward their legacy with the same zeal and enthusiasm.

In 1952, the organisation was registered as a charitable trust under the name ‘Shree Mavli Mandal.’ Since then, it has played a pivotal role in developing a sports culture in the Thane city. Today, it is a leading organisation with a modern well equipped gymnasium and an enviable 50,000 sq. feet ground for sports and allied activities. While its high school emphasises on sports, it also has a sports academy which helps students to excel in sports and other extra-curricular activities of their liking.

Mavli Mandal also organizes events like Sports Day, competitions and summer camps with sports-related activities. It provides coaching and training in several sports, including Kho-Kho, Gymnastics, Football, and Kabaddi. They celebrate Sports Day, highlighting the efforts and achievements of their students in various sports. The high school organizes a summer camp with sports-related activities, such as games and fun activities that promote teamwork. These facilities have propelled several students to shine and achieve state and national-level accolades.

However, it is its state-level Kabaddi tournament, which Mavli Mandal is most known for in the state’s sports circles. Considered as one of the major events in the state kabaddi calendar, the tournament has been running for 71 consecutive years, making it perhaps the only organisation in Maharashtra (or in the country) to hold a Kabaddi tournament for such a long time. Every Kabaddi player in Maharashtra aspires to play in this tournament. Many well-known men’s and women’s teams from Maharashtra as well as renowned Kabaddi players have participated in this tournament. In addition to this, Mavli Mandal has also been holding bodybuilding tournament and inter-school athletics competitions for the past 33 and 24 years respectively.

Buoyed by the support and encouragement of their alma mater, several athletes of Mavli Mandal have excelled in the sports of Kabaddi, Bodybuilding, Kho-kho and Athletics by winning many prestigious competitions. Players like Narayan Shinde, Lingappa Gawda, Milind Yadav, Rajesh Bhillare, Sagar Shinde (Kabaddi), Atharva Parab, Swati More, Dipti Vaidya, Mahesh Kokare, Darshan Devrukhkar, (Athletics), Pradeep Naik, Santosh Chinchavade, Koutsubh Chavan (Bodybuilding), Shubham Jadhav, Tanishk Fate (Kho-Kho) have made their mark in their sports.

If you visit the office of Shree Mavli Mandal Trust in Thane, you will find trophies and medals galore adorning several cupboards. It is a testimony to our commitment towards sports, said Sudhakar More, the president of the organisation. As a part of our centenary year resolutions, we have planned to lay a synthetic track and improve the drainage system of the playground, he added.

On the occasion of its centenary year, Mavli Mandal has decided to hold its state-level Kabaddi tournament, which will kickstart from April 25, in a grand manner by inviting 100 teams to participate. The organisation has also planned to felicitate veteran former Kabaddi players, including Arjun and Shiv Chhatrapati awardees, on this occasion. The tournament will have a total prize money of Rs 5,00,000.