Girls, housewives take to adventure sports in Tamil Nadu

Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), May 22 : An increasing number of girls in Tamil Nadu have taken to adventure sports like rock climbing, mountain climbing, river crossing, river rappelling and river crawling.

An organisation named the Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (MASS) is providing adventure sports training to girls in particular.

It is in fact the only organisation in Tamil Nadu providing training in activities like rock climbing, mountain climbing, river crossing, river rappelling and river crawling.

Recently, a special programme for girls was organised in the Thirumoorthy Hills near Udmalpet in Coimbatore District.

One of them, Lakshana, said she loved adventure sports and came to the camp for the sheer thrill of adventure.

"I generally love adventure activities since childhood. I used to wonder how they (the people on the television) used to do all this on television, and now, I have got this beautiful opportunity. I came to know about this camp from my friend and we are just enjoying this stint. We are just adventure lovers and have done rock climbing, river crossing, rappelling and other activities," said Lakshana.

Fredrick, the convenor and coach of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (MASS), said that adventure sports are acquiring popularity in India. In foreign countries, such forms of sport are practiced at the school level itself.

"We are mainly focussing on training females; the main reason is to create more confidence in them, even in their profession, even in defence training programme, etc. all over the country," he said.

"Here, there is no age limit and a number of housewives are also participating in this programme, mainly to get relief from stress and strain," he added.

In this programme, over 50 girls and housewives are participating. The message is clear that the women are in no way less then men as far as physical endurance is concerned.

ANI