PANJIM: The Khelo India programme begun in Goa on May 28 after a selection exercise that involved candidates from all over the country. This is the second year of the programme. A total of 73 candidates were selected in badminton, swimming and table tennis.
In badminton, out of the 24 who were selected, 12 are Goans. In swimming, 14 are Goans out of the 24. In table tennis, there are just four Goans out of the 24
Last year, during the selections, all 90 trainees were Goans but only 46 joined the scheme. This dramatic drop occurred after they learnt they would have to stay in the sports hostel, away from the family. Those selected from outside Goa came from states like Uttaranchal, Delhi, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Assam, Manipur and Kerala
When asked why youngsters from other states are being selected, the explanation was that Goa was one of the biggest state excellence centres in the country with qualified and reputed coaches.
The aim of the centre was to ensure grassroot development of the country in pursuit for excellence in the Olympics. The endeavour was to scale up training of state and public union territories by providing the best academies which were up to world standards.
The salaries of the coaches and the scientific staff is borne by the Sports Authority of India, Delhi whereas the salaries of the staff in administration is shared by the Centre and State. The major heads of expenditure like lodging and boarding are the responsibility of the State government.
The centre in Goa is officially named as "Khelo India State Centre of Excellence", and as such it is felt that it ought to have been exclusively for promoting Goan talent and not talent from all over the country which has also some of these centres, thus giving undue advantage to the children from some other States.
There is a problem of filling up all the slots allotted to the centre exclusively for Goan children as the trainees have to compulsorily stay in the hostel since it is a residential academy. Many parents of Goan children are reluctant to let the children stay at the hostel.
It is an accepted fact that sports is a State subject and as such the development of sports including opening of sports academies rests with Goa government with the Central Government supplementing the local effort.
The Goa government has to provide the infrastructure like the stadium, lodging and boarding, education, transportation to schools and hiring the supporting staff. It is the SAG that has selected table tennis, badminton and swimming, being the best performing disciplines at the Nationals/international level. Consequently, Goan sports administrators have opined that Goan players should make use of these facilities so as to improve the standard of local players more so as there are State-wise centres of excellence in almost every State.
Many Goan players have shown reluctance in joining the Panjim Centre for two main reasons. They have to compulsorily stay in the hostel, away from their homes. Besides, they have very limited choice in selecting the school or higher secondary school of their choice. The parents of such boys have been pleading that the centre ought to have been a non-residential academy since Goa is a small State unlike Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab and the trainees can reach the training centre with ease.
Former international and president, Goa Table Tennis Association, Adv Vero Nunes, when contacted, disclosed that Goan boys without being in the academy, have shown they can achieve excellent results like the performance of Goan cadet boys at the Nationals who beat the Petroleum Board Academy 3-0 which has Chinese coaches.
Without the so-called special training, Goan talent has won silver medals at internationals in Portugal Open, Spain Open, Thailand Open, Egypt Open. Recently, two of Goan players - Nagesh and Shantesh - were selected in Indian team in the Hopes Category. Goa has had podium finishes thrice at the Nationals.
"We have asked the SAG to have non-residential academies, one in North Goa and another at South Goa. We have successfully registered nearly 40 players in South Goa with coaches from Asia's foremost Academy, the Table Tennis Foundation," pointed out Vero.
"Moreover, the SAI provides similar facilities to non-residential accredited academies throughout India," stressed Vero, who is one of the most competent and much respected technical authority in table tennis in the State. His expertise was even taken notice by the Table Tennis Federation of India as he was appointed as its Vice-President.
Goans still remember how Vero dominated the TT scene in Goa, alongwith Subash Pandit, the Kolwalkar Brothers, Nazareth Gracias, Laxman Talak, Syed Majidullah rising to be the Number One, and dominating the scene for nearly more than a decade, when the facilities were rudimentary and not many qualified TT coaches were availabe. Later, as an administrator, Vero also displayed excellent qualities getting foreign and top Indian coaches and organising several coaching camps of top technical quality.
It is the SAG that has been arguing that Goa has to cater to all-India players at the State Khelo Centre in Panjim. Also, the SAG has demanded that non-Goan players be allowed in the State ranking tournaments. The GTTA rules clearly specify that in order to encourage Goans and dissuade non-Goans, that only Goans should be allowed in ranking tournaments. It has been observed in the past, that non-Goans come to Goa to obtain the National participation certificate in order to get jobs elsewhere and then leave.
The general observation is that the Khelo State Centre, as the name suggests, must cater basically to Goans since it is a part of youth development programme, and as such the focus must be on local talent.