bhopal sports minister yashodhara raje scindia inaugurated the 66th national school games at tatya tope stadium on wednesday it was presided over by the minister of state for school education inder singh parmarsgfi vice president mukhtej singh bandesha and general secretary amarjit sharma were the special gueststhe school education department sports and youth welfare department and the school games federation of india are organizing the 66th national school games in two cities of madhya pradesh bhopal and gwalior from june 6 to 13 the motto of the sports competition is sports spirit more than victoryminister scindia said that during the golden age of independence india has achieved an important place in sports at the national and international level if talent is identified from the school level itself india can get more medals in asian and olympic games the sports academy of the state has produced many players of international level promoting ancient games like malkhamb has been given the status of state game said scindiaminister parmar said that in the national education policy 2020 sports have been given a place in the curriculum along with academics sports activities are being expanded at the school level efforts are being made for promotion of modern traditional and rural sports he said mentioning the statement of swami vivekananda minister parmar said that players are the strength of any countryprincipal secretary school education rashmi arun shami said that between june 6 and 13 about 5256 players from different states are participating in the competition competitions in athletics football volleyball boxing judo table tennis hockey and badminton will be held at various sports grounds in bhopal and gwaliorspecial guest and general secretary of school games federation of india amarjit sharma said that sports have an important role in expanding school sports and identifying talent from the school level itself due to proper training and encouragement of sports talents india has got many international level players he said sports competitions to be held in madhya pradesh will also yield many excellent players who will be able to represent india at the international level in the coming times he addedthe formal opening of the games took place with the lighting of the torch there was an impressive march past by the teams of all the states sportsmanship oath was administered to the players and the sports flag was handed over to the players colorful balloons were released in the skycolorful cultural programs by the school students and excellent presentation of malkhamb by the players