New Indian Express: Sports Authority of India temple devoted to excellence

By Indraneel Das

At the turn of the century, the Sports Authority of India was termed a white elephant, something that lacked professionalism and vision. At times, the very establishment built to tap and nurture talent across the country looked clueless. There were astute administrators now and then, but on the whole, there was lack of accountability. More importantly, lack of results.

Established in 1984 by the Ministry of Sports, the organisation has faced difficulties, but has not deviated from its quest for excellence. Of late, especially after the 2010 Commonwealth Games, SAI seems to have gotten a grip over the sporting firmament of the nation. By hosting a successful South Asian Games and completing several projects to streamline the coordination between federations and the government, SAI has come a long way. SAI director general Injeti Srinivas says a lot needs to be done to emerge a sporting powerhouse. Excerpts…

White elephant to a structured unit, SAI has come a long way

It has a strong history. To convert it into one national body takes a unique strategy. Look at UK. Of late, they are doing well in Olympics. Ten years ago, their sports development was in a bad state. Over there, you don’t have an Omnibus accounts structure like in SAI. You have UK Sport, English Institute of Sport (EIS) and Sport England. These stakeholders perform different functions. UK Sports is an arm of the sports ministry. It passes grants and fixes and revises targets. EIS acts as a sports science data bank. Sport England does grassroots promotion. These are three bodies with separate mandates.

SAI has all these mandates put together along with educating coaches. In today’s world of specialisation, until we restructure the organisation and have separate verticals and professionalise them, it will be tough to deliver. There is a connection between these things. One large body has its advantages too, because if you have so many bodies, co-operation and co-ordination at times becomes difficult. That way, SAI is positioned well. Most sports development organisations across the world have huge physical infrastructure at their command. Nowhere in the world do you have an organisation that is state-funded and an arm of the government with such a large network of sports infrastructure. The outreach is tremendous. We need to ensure that all our special area centres and SAI centres have the minimum required infrastructure in terms of residence, field of play, equipment and basic sports science support. Our activity has to be result oriented.

Looking at SAI training centres, you wouldn’t by and large find an equivalent of that among state-level centres. A few states are putting in a lot of effort, but you have to make it a hub for talent identification, development and excellence. For that, you need a strong connection with the state governments, sports directorates, state and district associations. More often, we work on a standalone basis, whereas convergence doesn’t cost much. We have started having dialogues with the states and federations, saying that we are in the same business. We can’t excel in isolation and need to work together. Many states have given a positive response. West Bengal, Odisha and AP have asked for support in coaching and sports science. It’ll be a win-win situation for both.

Are you happy with the numbers this Olympics?

This time, we are hopeful that our contingent will have 130 or more. As far as Rio is concerned, we have put in efforts and need to wait for the results. The Mission Olympic Committee has learnt a lot. It has taken some broad decisions for a way forward. One of it is to double our participation in Tokyo. We should have a minimum of 250 in 2020. We have major federations like athletics, who have around 40 in Rio. They can target 75 next time. Everybody wants medals, but it’s a matter of progression. It’s good if you have a respectable contingent. In other sports, it’s different. Being an Olympian in itself is an achievement. If we have 300 marching past, it becomes a question of pride for the second-most populated country in the world. We have decided that our own committee will map our performance level and the Olympic levels.

In hockey, we are doing well. Swimming being a mother sport, we should have minimum of 15 for A qualification. We don’t have one today. We are working out which are the events we are closer to A qualification marks. It’s not knee-jerk and there is a lot of work. We are participating in 14 disciplines. We are not good in football. We are dealing with it separately. In sports like volleyball we have been competitive, but need to know the process of winning a berth. We have strong men’s and women’s teams and we must participate. We need to improve in team sports.

We have not been doing well in water sports or contact sports. The problem is bench strength. We have one or two stars and none after that. If we target 250, it’ll have a 1:4 ratio with the development group. We need 1000 more apart from the ones who are already there. SAI of late has started looking at India as a whole because training centres are very localised. We are now having academies. The one for swimming in Delhi has started producing results in sub-juniors. We have tied up with Glenmark Aquatics Foundations. In Rohtak, we have a boxing academy coming up. The development groups will be in the academies. We are starting a sprint academy in JN Stadium and hockey academy at Dhyan Chand Stadium. We will take care of education as well. Tata Football Academy has an open schooling system and we need to look at it.

Then we are speaking about physical and psychological and regular sports science, including nutrition. The ‘coach education’ system is critical. We don’t have pathways, so we want to have diagnostic study with the help of the International Council of Coaching Excellence. They have given recommendations and we are setting up a committee which will go into all aspects of coaching framework. This includes curriculum at NIS Patiala and regional centres, integration of international certifications in diploma and post diploma which International federations run and classify things into grassroots, development and high performance. With this and right sort of domestic competition and international exposure, I see no reason why we can’t be frontrunners. We can be definitely in the top 15. Top 10 is difficult because the medals tally is based on gold count.

On TOP scheme

The ministry was implementing it and we realised that it has to go in tandem with training and competition. It has helped more as an assistance in qualification. The TOP scheme has played an important role in giving athletes what they needed in terms of coaching, kits, training. They are happy and it’s visible. I think the scheme will continue and also focus on the developmental aspect. We have some podium-level athletes. We also have some with potential who can qualify. As we move forward, they will get into the podium-level pool. The TOP scheme will also provide individual assistance.

We are taking up an exercise to form a database for this developmental core. This will have everything on how athletes are developing. It will continue for four years. It doesn’t have to be capital intensive and we need skill. You don’t have to spend `60 lakh per person. We have a huge economy in terms of scale and a lot of people will come to help. Many of our athletes have not spent even 25 per cent of the TOP money. They can continue in the development group. By the time the Olympics is over, we will have a clear picture.

Earlier, we used to start when the Games were around the corner. We have learnt lessons and don’t want to repeat that. Well before Rio we started development work. We brought out an entire lot of publications where we have listed the athletes’ report card based on assessment. If we assess 1000 athletes, then it will make a difference. If we are serious about our effort, it will not go unrewarded.

Federations share a good relationship with us. They are realising the importance of structural reforms and that includes SAI as well. Without it, we can’t function. We need to have accountability and outcome orientation.

The system is changing, but we still need to be more transformed. The officials have a sense of responsibility. Coaches deserve respect and if we ensure that, they will deliver results. I think this (Rio) can be the watershed point with respect to our Olympic preparations. You can’t have that without strong foundations. The corporate sector also needs to come in in a big way. These days, corporate social responsibility gives so much importance to sports. It’s not just about medals. It’s about leadership and team building. It can work miracles, because the power of sports is huge. We are working on a profile for CSR partnership. Some corporates are interested in taking up academies and professonalising the entire project. They are willing to fund. SAI needs to market its project.

Where are we heading?

This is just the beginning. We’re in a critical stage, as the mass is being developed. This interest shouldn’t die down. It should be sustained. It’s a turning point and if we adopt the process, we will become a visible nation in the world of sports. Now, it’s just cricket and we need to go far beyond that, including football. It’s a world sport and no game is more popular than it. We should at least be at the mid-level.

On aspect of monitoring

For the 1000 athletes in the developmental programme, we will mark responsibilities and targets. Due justice will be done and if a person can’t make it physically and psychologically, then we might move ahead.

On lack of scientific coaching

We have 80 research fellows from UGC. A lot of research goes on simultaneously in academies. Manpower is increasing with the supply of scientific equipment. We’re getting anti-gravity treadmills, neuro-system monitors and new things are coming up. We have the capacity. In Bhopal, there were questions about quality of synthetic turf, and we have taken it up with the CPWD. There is an academy for middle and long-distance running. If 1000 kids turn up, we can keep them in these academies with Indian and foreign coaches. If athletes are linked to academies, performance will also improve. The NIS curriculum is being reviewed. We are confident it will work.