Cantt Board CEO felicitates 120 young athletes with MSM Sports Excellence Award 2025
Ferozepur, November 22, 2025: As many as, 120 young athletes were honoured at Mayank Sharma Memorial Sports (MSM) Excellence Awards 2025 celebrations by Cantt Board, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Vikas who presided over as the Chief Guest, while Dr. Gazalpreet Singh, Registrar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh State University (SBS-SU), presided over the event.
The aim of the event was to honour and motivate athletes who have brought pride to the district through their excellence in sports,
The Mayank Sharma Memorial Sports Excellence Awards 2025 were jointly organized by Mayank Foundation and DCM Group of Schools. The grand ceremony, held at Manekshaw Hall, DC Model Senior Secondary School, was graced by Cantonment Board CEO John Vikas as the Chief Guest, while Dr. Gazalpreet Singh presided over the event.
The program commenced with the traditional lighting of the lamp, followed by an address from Rakesh Kumar, Founding Member of the Foundation, who shared the purpose behind instituting the award. He recalled that his son, Mayank Sharma, was a promising badminton player and a student of Das & Brown World School. On October 7, 2017, Mayank tragically lost his life in a road accident outside Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium while on his way to practice. To keep his memory alive and to encourage budding athletes like him, the Foundation organizes this ceremony every year on Mayank’s birthday.
Foundation Secretary Rajiv Setia informed that more than 120 athletes were honored this year for excelling at district, state, national, and Asian-level competitions, thereby making their families and the district proud. Coaches from various sports disciplines, serving under the District Sports Department and the Education Department, were also felicitated. The ceremony was smoothly conducted by teacher Harbiban Kaur.
Addressing the gathering, Chief Guest CEO John Vikas praised the Foundation’s committed efforts in the fields of education, sports, transportation literacy, and community development. He stated that bringing together all distinguished athletes of the district on a single platform and recognizing them is a noble initiative that inspires young talent to progress further. He added that sports not only instills discipline but also nurtures physical, mental, and intellectual growth.
Towards the conclusion of the ceremony, Deepak Sharma, father of Mayank, presented a heartfelt Vote of Thanks. He expressed gratitude to all dignitaries, guests, athletes, and supporters present, and shared that the aim of the Foundation is to spread happiness, especially through initiatives that nurture young talent and promote community welfare.
The event was attended by DCM Director Retd. Brig. Navdeep Mathur, Principal Yachana Chawla, Deputy Principal Manish Banga, Senior GM Col. Piyush Berry, Headmistress Ritika Soni, DGM Vikramaditya Sharma, Group Senior Head Sports Abhishek Madan, along with Foundation members Secretary Rajiv Setia, Sanjeev Tandon, Rakesh Kumar, Dr. Tanjeet Bedi , Kamal Sharma ,Deepak Narula, Ranjan Sharma, Deepak Mathpal, Sumesh Gumber, Sandeep Sehgal, Gursahib Singh, Dr. Kulwinder Nanda and many others.