Army to introduce women's sports wing

In a bid to strengthening the sports wing, the Bangladesh Army Sport Control Board has decided to increase the number of disciplines by including 12 more disciplines for men and introducing 17 disciplines for women.
The decision came at the meeting of the Army Sports Control Board where they sat with the officials of different sports federations.
It was learnt that the Bangladesh Army may recruit approximately 500 athletes from athletics, swimming, judo, karate, weightlifting, archery, shooting, taekwondo, badminton, cycling, wushu, fencing, wrestling, gymnastics, table tennis, golf and tennis.
The move comes a month after the completion of the 8th Bangladesh Games where Bangladesh Army finished behind champions Bangladesh Ansar and VDP, which has both men's and women's wings in sports.
“Bangladesh Army wants to increase the number of disciplines as they have all facilities in place. We were called on to exchange our views,” said Bangladesh Badminton Federation general secretary Jobaidur Rahman Rana. “We will let our shuttlers know about the decisions of Bangladesh Army and they can join Army in soldier's position if they want.”
Apart from their 14 men's disciplines, Bangladesh Army started its women's wing temporarily in the recently held Bangladesh Games where they took part in archery and shooting but they want to keep women's wing permanently including these two disciplines.  “We are attaching special importance on female athletes. We will pick them up from grass-root level and they will get assurance of financial solvency as well as a secured life. In return they will play and the country's spots will be boosted,” said Brigadier General Abdul Hamid, director of Military Training & chairman of Army Sport Control Board.