Ad hoc coaching in 32 disciplines to start in phased manner soon
LUCKNOW :Ad hoc coaching in as many as 32 different disciplines, including 28 Olympic sports is all set to start soon across the state but in the phased manner as Uttar Pradesh Sports Directorate has divided them into three different categories after over 100 days of lockdown in the country due to the pandemic COVID19.
The date of the resumption of sports activities are yet to be announced, first to kick off the training would be the A category disciplines like archery, athletics, badminton, gymnastics, squash, table tennis, tennis, weightlifting, powerlifting, fencing, shooting, soft tennis, cycling, rowing, kayaking and canoeing, whereas the disciplines in the B category include basketball, cricket, football, handball, hockey, volleyball and netball.
The C category has disciplines mostly the contact sports like swimming, boxing, judo, kho-kho, kabaddi, wrestling, taekwondo, wushu and karate.
“We have fianlised the disciplines to start with but the coaching would begin in phased manner. We aren’t going to compromise with the heath of the sportspersons at the time when the pandemic corona virus has made things difficult for everyone,” UP’s director sports, RP Singh said on Wednesday.
“We have yet not finalized the resumption day of the sporting activities across the state, but start of the training/coaching would help the ad hoc coaches in those particular disciplines get into action,” he said, adding, “All the centres have been told to strictly follow the norms of thermo scanning, social distancing, hand sanitization and also the sanitization of instruments for the use in the disciplines.”
It is learnt that much before finalizing the list of disciplines UP Sports Directorate discussed the issue with the health departments and even sought the opinion of all its offices across the state.
“Only after seeing the success result of resumption of category A sports, we will start the coaching/training of B category sports, but the resumption of C category sports would come at the last. All the contact sports are in C category and we will take a final call on these disciplines only when things returned to full normalcy.”
Singh, however, said that to monitor the entry and exit of the trainees/sportspersons, registration of all is a must. “No one would be allowed to get trained at the stadium without having registration as keeping everyone’s record is a must in this situation.”
It is learnt that 400 plus ad hoc coaches across the state are eagerly waiting for the resumption of sports activities since march 25, which was the last day of their stint last season. Technically, their 11-month tenure contract had to be resumed from April 1, but the lockdown brought everything to standstill and since they have been struggling for remuneration, thus facing the worst financial crisis of their lives.
“It’s good that training/ coaching are due to be resumed soon though in phased manner. This would surely make things better for us as we have been struggling to manage things at home,” said an ad hoc coach on condition of anonymity. “Even I had to borrow funds from one of my friends to mange milk for my one-year old daughter,” he added.