Ministry pushes for top coaches and support staff

New Delhi: Appointing top coaches and support staff, besides upgrading infrastructure, were two key areas the sports ministry has earmarked in a bid to make India a sporting power.

In a meeting here on Monday to review preparations for the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2018 Asian Games and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, sports minister Vijay Goel called on national sports federations to “bring on board best coaches”.

The meeting included members of the Indian Olympic Association, the Sports Authority of India, the Olympic Task Force and the Top scheme committee, among others.

Said the ministry in a release, “Goel stressed that the federations should bring best coaches and support staff to provide training to the athletes. He said that we should upgrade the sports infrastructure, spot talent at a very young age, monitor performance, promote school and university level games, utilise stadiums to their full potential and involve best available coaching academies in training of the sportspersons.”

Goel said that the government had taken a number of steps to strengthen the support given to the athletes and the sportspersons.

“The major steps include enhancement of amount of financial assistance under the scheme of assistance to the National Sports Federations.”

He said that while a lot has been done to broad base the sporting activities in the country, a lot is still needed to be done to achieve excellence and make India a sporting powerhouse of the world.