India's legendary badminton coach Pullela Gopichand on Thursday emphasised the importance of physical literacy, as people around the world, are fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic, during an ELMS Sports Foundation, webinar chat with expert Margaret Whitehead.Gopichand and Margaret, who is an esteemed philosopher and stalwart of the modern interpretation of physical literacy, also highlighted the importance of support from the top leadership to promote the need for physical literacy and see it as a key pillar for the national level development.
"Physical literacy is a very important part of our life. I think physical activity needs to take centre stage. Health, fitness and all of these things are important especially in these days of COVID-19. We see the need for it more and more," Gopichand said as he mentioned how in 2015, he realized that only "winning gold medals" cannot be the national goal.
Mentored by two of India's most popular sports legends -- two-time Olympic medal-winning coach Gopichand and Olympic champion shooter Abhinav Bindra--ELMS Sports Foundation has been making a huge impact highlighting the subject of physical literacy in the country.
"We need a healthy and happy country during these challenging times. Our vision to improve physical literacy, sporting excellence in India has received a huge fillip with the involvement of stalwarts like Gopichand and Whitehead interacting on the subject," ELMS Sports Foundation's co-promoter Vita D said.
"A healthier and happier nation is truly the need of the hour, not just during the challenging times we're living in currently, but also in the future as we look to bounce back," he added.In order to accelerate the development of the sports in India, ELMS Sports Foundation has been focusing on designing and delivering learning programs for physical education professionals, coaches, high-performance sports administrators and other allied professionals that are within sports, physical education, fitness and leisure sphere. Through their impact projects, ELMS has been reaching around 1.2 million children from different states.
( With inputs from ANI )