The Olympic Task Force was setup to suggest changes in order to help India prepare for the next 3 games in a more channelised and efficient manner. India’s unorganised and dysfunctional sports training structure is in desperate need of a roadmap, a vision; and that is exactly what the Olympic Task Force set out to do.
The report is out now and focusses on a three pronged approach towards building a strong contingent for the next 3 Olympic Games.
The Olympic Task force was setup by Narendra Modi after India’s ‘lukewarm’ performance at the Rio Games.
“Athlete-centric, Coach-led and System-driven” is the formula proposed by the elite team consisting of Pullela Gopichand, Abhinav Bindra, Viren Rasquinha and other elite members of the Indian sporting fraternity. The committee submitted its report to the Sports Secretary, Injeti Srinivas.
“Currently sports governance is at stake as relationship and coordination of various sports federations with all their concerned stakeholders need much more advancement for timely disbursement and dispensation of sports grants to nurture the sport talent,” said Om Pathak (a member of the task force).
“Sports science is currently missing in sports syllabi, as a result the best of sportspersons in India are not uplifted beyond a certain threshold and therefore, the earlier the sports science is introduced to sports, the better would it be for ultimate evolution of all sports in the country,” he further added.
In a country of 1.3 billion, there is no dearth of talent, but what we miss out on is that there aren’t enough scouts who can tap this talent from a very young age. And hence, the task force has urged all sports authorities to visit rural areas, hold programs in primary schools and identify talent from a very young age.
Along with scouting of young talent, the task force has also proposed improving and inculcating physical wellness, ethical and moral values amongst the budding and established athletes to help them blossom into world class sporting personalities.
