The Hockey program for girls at the Anantapur Sports Village (ASV) started out with the support of Rural Development Trust (RDT) in 2006. The emphasis was on initiating a sporting culture, using the National sport of India in Anantapur. The program was later divided into 3 modes of operations, namely at the Grassroots centres, development centres and the ASV, catering to 31 centers spread across the district of Anantapur, covering schools and the regional centers, along with the Hockey Academy at the ASV.
Madhavi, an established graduate from the Hockey Academy, hails from Kalyandurg, a regional center for the hockey program. Being the daughter of a farmer, deprived her of leading a normal life and playing hockey at Kalyandurg due to social inconveniences like gender discrimination, lack of proper guidance as well as unavailability of infrastructure.
One of the brightest athletes of her batch, Madhavi joined the Hockey Academy on 14th June, 2012. She was always very athletic and enjoyed playing hockey. Her love for the sport roused instantly when she got introduced to the game by her maternal uncle. She could always find time at some point of the day to practise her skills, though she faced a lot of parental pressure to not participate in sport. But with the support of RDT, she joined the ASV Hockey academy after convincing her parents of their holistic development program.
Hockey was always popular among the provincial sectors however RDT adopted a structured way of developing talents, and later nurturing them at the ASV Hockey Academy. It used its hockey program to comprehensively develop the children of Anantapur through this integrated program at the ASV. It conclusively developed athletes by supporting them with education and nutritional support, apart from hockey.
One such inheritor of this initiative is Madhavi, who grew in stature during her stay at the ASV. Her extensive development was evident when she represented Andhra Pradesh in the Junior National Championships and simultaneously achieved an A grade in her Senior Secondary Examinations. According to Anil Raj Kumar, ASV Hockey Academy, Girls Head Coach,”B. Madhavi was always a diligent worker, who apart from being a talented player, was also brilliant in her academics. Her most impressive trait was her ability to balance her education and sports simultaneously. “
Competing in sports did not stop B. Madhavi from focussing on her studies. She enrolled herself in a reputed college in Andhra Pradesh to pursue her Intermediate studies after she graduated from the Hockey Academy. Her continued development in hockey kept moving forward. She was selected for Senior Indian camp for an opportunity of a chance to represent India. RDT, through their hockey program, provided Madhavi with an able path to follow, to achieve sporting excellence and dream bigger than she would, coming from her humble beginning.