Sagar Khaladkar, a Kabaddi coach who lives in Kothrud, was permanently disabled after an accident in 2013. However, he has trained several national and state-level kabaddi players. Advertising As a coach at Abhijit Dada Krida Academy for the past five years, Khaladkar is focused on exposing children to sports from nursery itself. In a press statement, he said, “I am working on creating games for children in the age group of 5 to 10. The training is given to young children through exercises like running and ballgames. For this, the track of eighty metres has been prepared on the field near More Vidyalaya.” He also guides them to kabaddi and athletics — not just nursery-level children but even college-going children. Advertising Sagar, who has been playing kabaddi since his childhood, has participated in national and state-level competitions, including the national championship. He earned a master’s degree in physical education at Bharati Vidyapeeth in 2013. He became a sports coach but later that year, he met with an accident. He returned from the threshold of death permanently disabled, and was wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life. He found support in the founder of Bharti Vidyapeethh, late Dr Patangrao Kadam, and local corporator Chandusheth Kadam. “Seven or eight months after the accident, they retained my job. Not only this, they also arranged a residence for me near the training grounds. Even my house rent is paid by Chandusheth,” the statement said. Every day, 80 to 90 students train under him. “Through this academy, I want to train my students so that they can play at an international level,” the statement added. He trains youths for the police entrance examination. For this, he even helps them with study material with the help of a library.

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