Vishal Uppal assesses the state of coaching in urban and
rural India.
The success of a player primarily depends on coaching. A
player needs coaching at every stage. A good coach works on multiple aspects.
The fitness, diet, technique, execution and strategy required to play a
particular sport is devised by a coach. Successful players have publicly
admitted the role of their coaches and their coaching. The standard of coaching
has drastically risen in last two decades. Coaching is now available at every
level. The gradual rise in quality and availability of coaching can be
attributed to multiple factors.
The first factor is inspiring performance of Indian sports
fraternity on world stage. Indians players are winning medals and are
being ranked in top few in certain sports. India is doing exceptionally good in
Cricket, Hockey, Badminton, Tennis, Table Tennis, Boxing, Weightlifting,
Wrestling, Shooting, Archery, Gymnastics and Athletics. Children as young as
five are aspiring to learn and excel in sports. Parents are now seeking
services of coaches to train their kids from elementary level. This has opened
avenues for coaches. The coaches who worked only in academic institutions now
run their sports coaching classes to supplement their income and train the
aspirants. The sportsmen who were not able to make it higher levels are now
working as full time elementary coaches.
The second factor is availability of sporting infrastructure.
The boom in sectors such as Information Technology has brought people in IT
hubs. This led to development of condominium complexes. These housing complexes
are equipped with basic infrastructure that is helping children work on their
basic skills. A good housing complex has swimming pool, badminton court, squash
court, volleyball court and many other based on the how premium is the complex.
In addition, municipalities in Tier A and Tier B cities in India have developed
sports facilities that provide skating rinks, large grounds for hosting cricket
and soccer tournaments and indoor halls for practicing badminton and table
tennis. These facilities also host summer and winter camps for coaching
players. In addition, big sports equipment merchandisers have opened courts in
and around malls in Metropolitan cities. Decathlon stores in India have
provided courts for practicing basketball, hockey, skating and other popular
sports.
The veteran wrestlers in village gymnasiums are training
entrants to compete at village, district and state level. Most wrestling
champions are a gift of traditional training methodology where the teacher and
pupil share a deep bond. As emphasis on sports is increasing, the villages are
churning out sportsmen trained in traditional sports.
The good part is opening up of specialist training
academies. These academies are being opened by retired sports personalities and
are contributing by training men and women in competitive sports. Some of these
academies are meant for training the learners for international level. The
Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad is headed by Pullela Gopichand. The
academy has produced current and former world number one shuttlers; P V Sindhu
and Saina Nehwal. The cricket academies like National Cricket Academy headed by
Anil Kumble; Vengsarkar Cricket Academy founded by Dilip Vengsarkar; Sehwag
Cricket Academy run by Virender Sehwag and many other similar academies are
imparting quality coaching in Cricket. However, India is still dependent on foreign
coaches and academies in foreign countries for specialized coaching in hockey,
tennis, archery and shooting. But as former players are hosting camps and
venturing into coaching, the dependence will reduce in coming years.
Image Source: Man photo created by rawpixel.com - www.freepik.com
No comments:
Post a Comment