More than 600 guests, including invited community leaders from other community associations and the Consul of India, Bhav Dhillon participated in the event
The second edition of the recent mega celebrations of the Gujarati Sports and Cultural Association awards witnessed a colourful range of performances interspersed between several award facilitation and speeches from key dignitaries attending the event, reported indianweekender.co.nz.
The event witnessed participation from more than 600 guests, including invited community leaders from other community associations and the Consul of India, Bhav Dhillon, as the chief guest.
Speaking on the occasion, Dhillon acknowledged the role played by the Gujarati diaspora within the wider Kiwi-Indian diaspora and said, “Our Gujarati communities are well-known for their enterprising spirit and their strong desire of remaining connected with their roots and preserving cultural identity.”
Sharing the excitement of the successful organisation of the awards Vice President of NZGSCA, Ritesh Raniga, who was also the event director for the night, said, “It was the culmination of a lot of hard work and toil from Grand Awards Night Sub Committee and the executive members. It gives us immense pleasure that our guests were able to sit back and enjoy the wonderful event and celebrate achievements within our sports,” Raniga said.
Ten different awards recognising individual and team excellence and winners in Cricket, Soccer, Squash, Table Tennis, Golf, Snooker and Netball were presented.
NZGSCA has been organising the sports tournaments and the award ceremony for many years, but in the last two years, the executive committee have raised the scale and grandeur of the event.
NZ Gujarati Sports and Cultural Association was incorporated in 1995, five years after being run and operated informally as a society. The association works towards bringing together the Gujarati Indian diaspora that moved to New Zealand from India, Fiji, and other nations by hosting different sports and cultural events to keep them connected to their roots.
Paresh Parshotam, President of NZGSCA told the Indian Weekender that the inclusion of women’s sports (netball) over the last two years at the awards ceremony was the key highlight as it has expanded the scope of games and participation to another level. “There was an absolute unanimity amongst our executive committee team about bringing our women into the fold of competitive sports, and we are pleased to be able to do so,” he said.
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