Why the sports ministry is getting it wrong, again!

By Manisha Malhotra The country’s top athletes getting caught in a doping sting operation has put the government and its sports bodies, including the National Institute of Sport, on the backfoot. While the sports minister was forced to take some action, the path he has chosen is again futile and really not going to the root of the problem. The ministry, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to shut the NIS as a training venue and use it only as a teaching location. There are several fundamental flaws with this thinking even though it may have noble intentions. First, making it just a “college” is not going to produce any world-class Indian coaches since the system is not only prehistoric, but also not in any touch with various sports. [caption id=“attachment_54371” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Moti Bagh Palace in Patiala which houses the NIS. Image from Wikipedia Commons.”]  [/caption] Right now, someone who is learning there can at least walk out of the door and see how some of the best in the country are performing. It is also a documented fact that world-class coaches are not made in the classrooms but out on the playing field. While Indians as a whole excel in written examinations, they fail miserably in applied thinking and improvisation, which is one of the major qualities needed in a coach. Now, the coaches who are aspiring to be on the top some day have no reference point at all and won’t be able to see theory in practice. Second, while it is shameful, the NIS still has the best training facilities in the country. They have state-of-the-art equipment compared to other SAI centres and have managed to strike a balance with food and other facilities. Lets just put it simply, the athletes at the NIS can even get ice for their post training recovery. It is not a big city, so doesn’t have the distractions and temptations that come with the big ones. Third, it must be noted that sport in the country is demographically centred. Different states excel in certain sports and the athletes at the NIS mainly train in athletics, boxing, wrestling and cycling. A majority of these athletes are from the surrounding areas of Haryana and Punjab and are extremely happy to be close to their homes. Relocate some of them to Bangalore which is probably the next best centre and we are going to have a bunch of them cribbing about everything from food to language. Everyone is happy in an environment they feel that they know and this is an intangible that can make a big difference. In my opinion, the thing that should have been done is all people even remotely involved here should have been fired and the athletes banned. A policy needs to be drafted where they can upgrade the coaches and sports science by bringing in some of the world experts. Couple that with accountability of results, we can have not just a world-class training centre, but also a premier teaching facility, all in one place. Manisha Malhotra is an ex-professional tennis player who is now the CEO of the Mittal Champions Trust where she spends her time nurturing sportsmen and tries to extricate them from the mess called Indian sport.