No coaches ahead of key tourneys

LUDHIANA: With already a shortage of sports coaches in Ludhiana, only 33 in the entire district, the active coaches, due to constant duties in tournaments around the state, feel their students suffer when it matters the most. “We prepare our trainees for the tournament season throughout the year, but just as the state and national level tournaments start, we are assigned duties at the event venues. That is when our trainees need us the most,” said one of the Ludhiana coaches, seeking anonymity. He added that the training before tournaments is crucial and different from that given on regularly. “In the last one month, I have been away from my centre for over a week, which will have an adverse effect on the performance of my trainees,” the coach said. Another coach, seeking anonymity, said the problem occurs because of the parallel tournaments organized by the state sports department along with those organized by various associations. “There are the district games and state games which the associations organize and then there are the rural festivals organized by the department. We are assigned at both, either as officials or as coaches. Because of this double duty our students suffer. I have been away from my centre on duty for almost 10 days in the recent past,” he added. Teja Singh Dhaliwal, general secretary, Punjab Basketball Association, said it is not the duty of the sports department to organize tournaments, but that of associations. “The department’s duty is to provide the infrastructure, equipment and coaches,” he added. Dhaliwal said the rural festivals are organized under the schemes of the Centre around the same time as the tournaments organized by the sports associations, which is towards the end of a training season. “As the number of tournaments has doubled, the coaches’ time on duty has also doubled,” he added. Underlining the need for a separate mechanism, the PBA general secretary said, “If the department has to organize these tournaments, there needs to be a separate mechanism with separate officials and referees.” District sports officer Kartar Singh said, “The rural festivals encourage the rural children, as they do not get the same facilities as urban children.”