The Mumbai Indians (MI) will be celebrating ESA Day on April 16. For that, have given free entry to 19,000 girls in the Wankhede stadium for their match against Kolkata Knight Riders.
What is ESA Day by Mumbai Indians (MI)?
The Education and Sports for All (ESA) was launched in 2010. It is a key initiative of Reliance Foundation, ‘combining its focus areas of education and sports for development impacting lives of over 13 million children’.
For this special occasion, the Mumbai Indians players will be wearing the WPL jerseys in their match against KKR to show their support for women in sports. 19,000 girls from 36 NGOs in the city will be attending the MI-KKR match on free entry.
Headed by Mrs. Nita Ambani, the ESA initiative ‘seeks to provide holistic development through a focus on education & sports and to enhance the quality of the sporting ecosystem by providing facilities, training, infrastructure, and equipment across multiple sporting properties through the year.’
Through this special ESA campaign, the Platens encourage education and sports amongst underprivileged and specially-abled children.
Through ESA, Reliance Foundation Youth Sports aims to improve sporting infrastructure, to empower coaches, provide equipments, and offering grants and scholarships to notable performers.
Reliance Foundation Young Champs also gives full-time residential football scholarships. Reliance Foundation Jr NBA aids school-based basketball programs across the country.
Their Twitter handle of the Mumbai Indians posted pictures of their players with the WPL style jerseys which they will don for their match against KKR.
आपले boys are all set for the #ESADay 👕💙
#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #MumbaiMeriJaan #ESADay @ril_foundation pic.twitter.com/hujrhb4Mlf— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 15, 2023
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 15, 2023
Head coach of Mumbai Indians men’s team Mark Boucher, MI women’s team bowling coach Jhulan Goswami, and MI men’s batting coach Kieron Pollard, spoke of this commendable initiative, saying that this will motivate the girls to take up the sport professionally.
“Mumbai Indians have been fantastic in creating this initiative and hopefully, it’s going to go out to the rest of the world. The biggest lesson is that they will take away from this game as well is that seeing sports and inspiring them to be able to play sport at a professional level one day,” Boucher said in a video uploaded by Mumbai Indians’ Twitter handle.
“Definitely, it’s going to motivate them and encourage them. In the future, we will see a lot of girls coming into the sport,” Goswami said.
“I think that’s a fantastic sort of gesture, not only for kids or whatever, but for the ladies of this generation. It’s very very instrumental in the development of any kid and, more so, ladies and girls, especially in sports. So, it gives you a different perspective of what you can accomplish as an individual and as a female,” said Pollard.
Meanwhile, the big boost for the Mumbai Indians is that their captain Rohit Sharma is back in form having hit a fifty in their last match against Delhi Capitals.
