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IAAF, SAI sign MoU to boost coaching system in India

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between IAAF and Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Tuesday to establish a world-class High Performance Excellence Centre in India and regularly holding seminars for Indian coaches are a few steps towards that direction.

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It took a 48-hour visit by legendary long distance runner and current president of International Association of Athletics Federation's (IAAF) president Sebastian Coe to make Indian sports authorities realise that there is a need to revamp the country's coaching system in order to come on to the world map.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between IAAF and Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Tuesday to establish a world-class High Performance Excellence Centre in India and regularly holding seminars for Indian coaches are a few steps towards that direction.

In a major breakthrough, it has been agreed between the IAAF, Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and the SAI to develop the Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) stadium as the 'High Performance Academy' with the aim to provide excellent coaching, integrated support service and professional atmosphere to track and field athletes for international championships. The academy will primarily focus on IAAF Youth & Junior World championships, Youth Olympics Games and 2020 and 2024 Olympics.

SAI will be responsible for funding and making available the necessary sports infrastructure like stadium, strength and mental conditioning, gymnasium, sports science and residential hostel facility, while the IAAF will provide specialist foreign coaches in sprints, discus throw, high-jump, heptathlon and decathlon.

The AFI will assist in the management of the academy and will manage athletes jointly with SAI. As part of this agreement, the IAAF will send renowned coaching experts at regular intervals to train the coaches in India.
The coaches will share their knowledge with Indian coaches by holding two to four-week long seminars on a regular basis. The basic idea would be to make their Indian counterparts understand how the coaching system worked in developed countries that are at the forefront of the athletics excellence.

"India will be playing a very central role in the development of athletics in the years to come. It's important for the IAAF to develop India both nationally and internationally by providing the right kind of infrastructure to talented athletes and, most importantly, put in place a good coaching system. My primary discussion with the AFI and SAI officials revolved around importance of coaching because the coaches' education programme is very important," Coe told reporters after signing the agreement on Tuesday.

It must be mentioned here that Chinese athletes benefited from the Sport Science College (SSC) of Beijing Sport University (BSU) during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the setting up of a similar centre in India might result in change of fortune of Indian athletes.

"I am a product of good coaching. My father was my coach and he created a perfect ecosystem around me to develop as an athlete. It's because of the discipline and specialised training that I was able to compete at the highest level. Coaching is an integral part for the development of young athletes around the world including India. The IAAF experts would be providing Level 1, 2 and 3 coaching education at the academy. Let me tell you, I have been watching the Indian track and field teams compete for the last 20 years, and the gap is closing on the rest of the world. My job as the IAAF president would be to ensure that this particular gap continues to close at a faster rate. Indian coaches, for sure, would benefit from this MoU. India is a potential market to develop as an athletic centre and we need to tap it," the 59-year-old star athlete from Briton added.

SAI director general Injeti Srinivas announced that the academy would become operational in two-three months' time and a talent identification drive would be carried out by the AFI, covering the entire country, to identify the core probables.

Indian athletics has predominantly suffered from lack of quality home-grown coaches, sports physiologists and poor training infrastructure. The other major issue has been the lack of awareness about food supplements and nutritional diets.

"It's in this context that the role of coaches becomes important not only to impart the right training to junior and sub-junior athletes but to also to make them aware about the diet programme," AFI president Adille Sumariwalla said.

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