Well done Gopichand, India needs champion coaches like you!

The Sports Ministry needs to be complimented for finally waking up to the fact India needs quality coaches who can produce champions. In this endeavour, a Task Force led by former All-England badminton champion P.Gopichand, has studied and offered a 43-page report which will look at a TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) for coaches.

Details of the report are available on the website of the Sports Ministry, wherein there will be a National Coach Accreditation Board (NACB). Lest one think this is an exercise taken up by babus, no, this is work produced by Gopichand, a player who was top class and has produced champions.

For those who think great players go on to become brilliant coaches, no, that is not the case. What Gopichand did as a player and then showed in coaching was and is world class. This is something which two of his trainees will attest – Olympic medallists Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu.

Indeed, Gopi is the best man to have studied and offered solutions. One must not think, overnight, India will be producing champion coaches who will be able to kill the need/craving for foreign coaches. The mantra is “Viksit Bharat” so there is a crying need for India to produce coaches who know what it takes to churn out champions.

Frankly speaking, this idea of grading coaches and ensuring they meet standards, as suggested by Gopi’s report is much-needed. Many decades ago, the NIS was set up in India. That the NIS methods are old and outdated is known to all. At best, these coaches can serve at the grassroot level. Maybe, the best did serve at national level. Today, India wants coaches who can produce big stars across a gamut of disciplines.

First, the positives. India has some good coaches in a few sporting disciplines, notably shooting, cue sports and even in cricket. Yet, for a nation which wants to not just host the Summer Olympics in 2036, it is important quality coaches are produced. If you take the case of Paris Olympics champion Manu Bhaker, what Jaspal Rana did, minus a formal coaching certification from the NIS is phenomenal. Then again, if you look at Deepali Deshpande, her service as coach with the rifle shooters is recognised well.

At the other end of the spectrum, in hockey, we do not have a single good coach. Look at how Harendra Singh ran Indian women’s hockey into the ground. Today, Sjoerd Marijne returns to India and will take over the team. He has a big task ahead but is ready for the challenge.

Coaching is more than just drilling the athletes in what was learnt five decades ago. Today coaching is about imparting skills, and also how the coach can work on the mindset of the athletes. In fact, quality coaching has to begin at the school level. If one goes through some big cities in India, famous names shone in spots because of good coaches at the beginner and intermediate level.

At a recent meeting of the Indian Olympic Association in Ahmedabad, there was plenty of brainstorming. There was a warning as well for National Sports Federations, they better take their jobs seriously. For long, sports federations in India have played politics for their own survival.

Someone has also done a costing on how much Indian spends on foreign coaches. A good coach in hockey will not come for less than $ 10,000 a month. In the quest to produce champions in Asia and the Olympic level, huge money is spent on foreign coaches. If India can produce best doctors, top software guys, scientists and chess champions as well, producing sports coaches is important.

Hopefully, in the next five years, we will see results, at least at the state level and National level. For the record, Neeraj Chopra has gone back ‘desi’ coaches after having worked with Klaus Bartonietz and Jan Zelezny.