Rise of Indian coaches makes NSFS reduce foreign footprint
NEW DELHI: A new Olympic cycle begins with most sports federations scurrying to hire foreign coaches but this time many major federations are treading cautiously. Ten months after India’s most successful Olympics (seven medals), disciplines like wrestling and boxing are yet to appoint any foreign coaches. Shooting has cleared rifle and pistol experts after much deliberation, and in badminton the elite national squads are being largely looked after by Indian coaches, while a few top players have personal foreign coaches.
Growing expectations and a result-oriented approach are making federations bide their time, rather than take hasty decisions. Much was expected from boxing and shooting at the Tokyo Olympics but while shooting drew a blank, boxing fetched only one medal.
A section within some federations, especially in sports where Indian coaches have developed expertise, feel time has come to give more power to home trainers. Foreign coaches, they feel can play a more supportive role.
“We don’t want to rush and appoint foreign coaches,” says Boxing Federation of India secretary Hemanta Kalita. “We have to get the best coaches who can
deliver at the top level and in the longer term.”
High performance director Santiago Nieva drew some criticism for the performance of the men’s team. His contract was extended but he decided to quit last month.
Women’s coach Raffaele Bergamasco was not given a fresh term. The elite men’s team is currently guided by Narendra Rana while the women’s team is being overseen by Bhaskar Bhatt.
The National Rifle Association of India ( NRAI) has appointed Munkhbayar Dorjsuren (pistol), an Olympics bronze medallist, and Thomas Karnick (rifle), six-time Olympian and world championships medallist. Besides, legendary Mark Russell (trap) and his wife Lauryn Mark (shotgun) have also been roped in. The Indian coaches were already announced.
“Foreign coaches will help us lay down a structure and they will be a support to our Indian coaches,” says NRAI secretarygeneral Kanwar Sultan Singh.
In badminton, Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand have already established a good coaching structure in their academies.
“The players still have a mindset that foreign coaches are needed but it is changing with times,” said BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra.
In case of wrestling, the federation is just saying no to foreign coaches. “We have evaluated the performances of coaches. We feel our own coaches can guide better. It is difficult to monitor training plans of foreign coaches,” said a WFI official.