Sports education missing in schools: Expert

VARANASI: The entire country is in the grip of Kerala phenomenon which is hindering the promotion of sports culture in the country. "The phenomenon is being replicated in schools and colleges across the country as parents are forcing children to become engineers or doctors, neglecting the actual potential of their wards," said Anil Ramachandran, associate professor, Kunnur University on the third day of weeklong national workshop on 'training methods and orientation of trends in different games (TMOTG)', organised by the department of physical education, Banaras Hindu University, on Thursday.
Later, speaking to TOI, the senior sports teacher from Kerala stressed on the need to bring radical changes in the education system. "The education system in schools and colleges is weighed in favour of academics, and sports is usually neglected. There is a common curriculum and schooling to judge the potential of students on the basis of marks obtained in the examination. Often, the student are forced to fit into jobs by trial and error method without self actualisation to identify the innate potential. The education system should be able to unearth the true potential of candidates in their areas of interest," he added.
It may be mentioned here that the weeklong national workshop is attracting sports lovers from different parts of the country. The weeklong programme is focusing on training methods and emerging trends in four games - football, hockey, cricket and volleyball.
Saying that every child is born with speciality which needs to be identified and tapped at a young age, Ramachandran emphasised that child should be left free to excel in the area of interest. The parents and teachers should act as guide and facilitator to properly groom and nurture the prodigies for competitions. The theory of multiple intelligence (proposed by Howard Gardener) applies to young child who is born with different skills. The skills, intelligence and their applications must be routed in the area of interest for self actualisation, and it holds the key for success, he added.
Delivering a lecture on mental skill training in sports, he highlighted the role of mental imagery in performance enhancement. He also stressed on the use of practical methods for performance enhancement besides obtaining optimum level of performance with limited resources along with problems commonly faced by physical educationists and coaches in various sports.
In the post lunch session, Rajeev Chaudhary, associate professor, department of physical education, BHU highlighted the role of yoga as tool for optimising performance in sports, its importance in daily training routine and well being of sportspersons. He emphasised on 'mudras' and 'asanas' in yoga to maintain fitness and its role in stress reduction and relaxation.
The last four days of the workshop are dedicated to practical sessions and training for four different games under the supervision of Dronacharya and Arjuna awardees. The workshop is concluding on November 7.