Shreya Jadhav might be all of 14, but the national U-14 taekwondo champion has a vision.
"I want taekwondo to be popular in the country, and I want more people to know about taekwondo and also play it," says Shreya.
"Nobody knows a lot about taekwondo in India. Here, people assume that it is like karate. But it's not.. I want to bring about that change about taekwondo in people," she adds.
The Mumbai girl is seeking the support of the people for it.
Shreya's father, Nitin Jadhav, has started a crowdfunding initiative to fund his daughter's dream of representing India at the 2024 Olympics. They have already managed to raise Rs 80,000 through it, and have set the bar at Rs 20 lakh.
Jadhav works in the finance team of a private firm, and while he has the capacity to sponsor Shreya's various state and national tournaments, he cannot afford sending her frequently to international competitions.
Shreya has taken part in only one international event so far, the 7th Tirak Taekwondo International in Thailand in October 2017, where she returned with a gold in her category.
By participating in international competitions, a taekwondo athlete gains the required Global Membership System in order to qualify for the Olympics.
Nitin says "According to her coach Bhaskar Karkera, she has the potential to excel at the international stage. And to go that level, she needs to compete in as many international competitions as possible and gain points to make the Olympics cut.
"I can provide some funds from my personal amount, but it's not sufficient because we are a middle-class family. So, we are trying to collect as many funds as possible from the public, besides my own contribution," he adds.
Shreya took up taekwondo at the age of four when her parents wanted their daughter to learn self-defence. The sport, however, grew on the young girl, who began competing at the age of six.
Apart from Karkera, she has been coached by Prem Kumar and Siddhesh Ghag and trained in Mumbai's Ruia College. Shreya went on to climb the ladder and win medals in various state and national competitions (see box), including winning gold in the U-14 Nationals in Chennai last month.
But her mettle was truly tested in Thailand, where she got the first real taste of competition at the big stage and yet clinched the gold. Her father shelled out around Rs 1 lakh for that trip, an amount he cannot shell out regularly to sustain Shreya's competitive needs, which is at least four to five international tournaments a year.
The Taekwondo Federation of India comes into the picture only during tournaments organised by it.
"They chip in with boarding, but travelling and all other personal expenses is on us. And that is only for tournaments organised by them. If we go for open international competitions, they are not bound to give (funds). And those open tournaments are also very important," Nitin says.
Shreya says the Thailand outing was totally different compared to the competition level she gets in the country, and that she feels a unique sense of pride and achievement when she is known as an "Indian" player and not by her name.
She wants to experience more of that, and ultimately be there at the 2024 Olympics. "It's a long way to go. But I hope that I get there with the help of everyone," Shreya says.
SHREYA'S MEDAL CABINET
- Gold: TFI 4th Cadet National, Chennai; February 2019
- Gold: TFI 4th Cadet State, Solapur; January 2019
- Bronze: National School Games, Gujarat; Janaury 2019
- Gold: 7th Tirak Taekwondo International, Thailand; October 2017
THE LINK
Shreya Jadhav's crowdfunding initiative link is: https://www.impactguru.com/fundraiser/help-shreya-nitin-jadhav
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