The 18th Atmiya Annual Athletic Meet 2022-23

The 18^th “Annual Festival of We Are One”, a special term coined by our beloved Principal Dr. Vijay Patel for the Annual Athletic Meet 2022-23, was recently celebrated by AVM family. The three and half day’s sports carnival witnessed participation by the entire AVM Family from 28^th December 2022 to 31^st December 2022. An experienced and proficient team of Sports teachers converted the lush green school football ground into a track and field arena. The football goalposts were decorated with 4 different fabric colours, each representing a student house of AVM. 200m race track surrounded the javelin throw arena. On the one side of this huge ground, there were long jump and triple jump arenas, and on the other side, shot put & discus throw, and high jump arenas were prepared. Each of these arenas was fenced with a pattern made of red fabric and small flags of each house. Students, Sports teachers, the Academic team along with the Admin team witnessed and participated in making the event memorable.

The 18^th Atmiya Annual Athletic Meet kicked off with a very energetic opening ceremony. The guests of the event were escorted by the Head Boy, the Sports Captain, and 4 representatives of each house. Then, students of grades 7 to 12 welcomed them with a walk past, proudly waving the tricolour in their hands, whereas the younger ones presented some mind-blowing well-coordinated drills. Then, a special team of Himanshu Sir and Jaimin Sir sang the song “Lehra do”, which motivated all to give their best. Thereafter, the guests were escorted to the stage and they enlightened us about the importance of staying fit and clarity of goals in one’s life. The synchronized flower drills by grade 6 students then caught everyone’s eyes on the ground. Furthermore, in line with the ongoing annual national celebration of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, our School Principal Vijay Sir addressed us about the impressive development of our glorious nation and about the contribution of women during these 75 years since India’s Independence. Subsequently, the best athletes of 6 different age groups from last year’s ‘Athletic Meet’ performed the torch relay, a symbol of sportsmanship spirit. Finally, Vijay Sir lit the torch and then officially announced the 18^th Annual Athletic Meet ‘open’.

The chilling morning session of Day 1 commenced with three 3000m hits, where athletes gave their best to get the prime position. Ball throw, shot put and long jump of various groups were simultaneously going on after the 3000m hits. Without any break, volunteers were completely engrossed in performing their duties on the ground. Energetic songs revived the energy of exhausted athletes and the spirited spectators. The entire atmosphere was filled with cheers, claps, and shouts, which motivated each and every participant to give his optimum performance.

On the chilled and foggy morning of Day 2 of AAM, all the athletes witnessed the final of 1500m race of group D. All the robust athletes gave their best performance. The same energy was seen in the following 800m final of group E and throughout the morning, vigorous discus throws, shot put throws and javelin throws were seen, which were appreciated by the coaches and teachers. In the midst of the long jump finals, we celebrated the birthday of a calm, ever-smiling, and dedicated individual, Pujya Natuda, to whom Param Pujya Swamishree has entrusted the responsibility of the Administrator of Atmiya Vidya Mandir. Vijay Sir along with Tarun Sir shared some of his qualities and then the senior students presented a specially made card to him.

As a matter of fact, Day 3 is always packed with thrilling and nail-biting finals. Over the years, the FINAL day starts with 3000m finals. Despite this, the Atmiya family was desperate to witness the close finals of short races and relays. In the morning session, events like triple jump, high jump, and shot put were conducted whereas the afternoon session was filled with unpredictable finals of 100m, 200m, and house relays. The keen desire to win the gold medal for their house reflected in each performance of the finalists.

The 18^th Atmiya Annual Athletic Meet ended with an outstanding closing ceremony where Prabhudarshan Sir, anchor of the event, gave an awesome head start with some amazing chants. Tarun Sir then invited on stage the Athletes of the Year in each group to have their well-deserved trophies presented to them, while also sharing some insightful facts about those students and their performances. Then, Head Boy Kavi bhai and Sports Captain Ashish bhai, on behalf of all the students, thanked all the mentors, sports teachers, dining team, volunteers, and music and tech team without whom this event would not have been possible. AVM then also celebrated the birthday of an ever-smiling, devoted and dedicated Principal Sir, Dr. Vijay Patel. Nirman bhai and Nevil bhai from grade 12 occupied the podium and shared some of the outstanding qualities of Vijay Sir. Thereafter, a few students from each grade presented a beautifully made card to Vijay Sir along with a heartfelt prayer. Later on, all the students took an oath to respect each other and to accept everyone around them. After distributing some 330 shining medals, house conveners of each house lowered their respective flags, and then Vijay Sir marked the closure of the very memorable 18^th AAAM.

The best athletes of each group and the final standing of this Annual Festival of We Are One are as follows:

Group	Athlete	House
A (U-08)	Vansh R. Patel	Shivam
B (U-10)	Sarvanaman R. Patel	Satyam
C (U-13)	Sahaj Y. Rohit	Shivam
D (U-15)	Abhay R. Patel	Shivam
E (U-17)	Ankit M. Yadav	Shivam

Champions: Shivam House
Runners Up: Sundaram House

Written by: Dhruv Vaghasia, Neel Talaviya and Nirlep N Patel (Grade 11)

Opening Ceremony Smrutis:

Day 1 Smrutis:

Day 2 Smrutis:

Day 3 Smrutis:

Medal Ceremony Smrutis: