The failure of Indian archers at the 2012 Olympics ought to have served as a cautionary warning to Indias sports planners: dont be pig-headed by always insisting on an Indian coach.
Leaving behind the Koreans,who had closely worked with the Indian archers and could have managed Deepika Kumari & Co a tad better in London,was a colossal error.
Now,an ambitious Rs 250 crore-worth project to shore up the abysmal quality of Indian coaches has been proposed by the Sports Ministry with a view to reduce dependence on foreign coaches.
It is reliably known that a blueprint for this coaching programme overhaul is still under construction with the National Skills Development Corporation assigned to draft a feasibility report. Then,there is the admission that the existing NIS certification and SAI training has proven to be grossly inadequate,hence this new beast dubbed National Institute of Sports Coaching.
Also,that it will take anything between 6 to 10 years for the effects to kick in (3 years to set it up,a further 3 for the first batch to pass out). And finally,that we may still require to import coaches for certain niche sport requirements.
The ambition needs to be questioned. Elite athletes gunning for Olympic medals almost always prefer the liberty of putting together their own crack teams,never mind the nationality of their coaches. Why the current crop of indigenous coaches failed to produce a larger core group,even if not the elites,is still unknown.
India has also failed miserably in the crucial,decentralised process of scouting for raw talent,and as such needs sports-sleuths men and women with keen eyes who could cast their nets wide and impart fundamental skills rather than reinventing wheels of cutting-edge coaching in a Patiala mansion.
If its about keeping your athletes away from dope-daddies who come from far-off lands in East Europe then Indias sports planners need to stop thinking their own athletes so gullible.
(Shivani is a special correspondent based in Mumbai)
shivani.naik@expressindia.com
