Foreign coaches to get more say in selections

Vinayak Padmadeo

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 20

The National Sports Federations will have to take their foreign coaches’ advice more seriously during the selection meetings. The Sports Ministry has written a letter to all the federations to make the foreign coaches part of the decision-making process during team selections.

Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore told The Tribune that this decision was taken because the foreign coaches are getting top dollar, and therefore they have to be made responsible for the results. “When we hire such pedigreed skill trainers, we pay them the right amount, the market rate; and so we expect that they are also responsible for the results,” Rathore said. 

“Part of that responsibility is getting the selection right, and therefore we insisted to all the federations that along with the presence of the government observers, we want these highly-paid coaches or skill trainers there too,” he said.

Rathore insisted that a foreign coach will have to be present during selection meetings, even if he or she is not a chief coach.

Once part of the selection meeting, these coaches will have to file a report too.

“They will also send us an independent report — directly to the Ministry — of what they thought about the selection process,” he said.

Rathore said that this may seem a trivial matter to some but it is important.

“We are leaving no stone unturned to get the best, to pay the best. Processes like selections may seem small but are actually vital to picking up the right talent. Therefore, the people that we are paying for skill training and are responsible for the results are also part of the decision-making in the selection process.”

‘Young talent key’

A constant complaint has been that the foreign coaches don’t spend time to nurture young talent. Rathore said that this will not be the case once his plan of getting international consultants bears fruit.

“We are bringing in international consultants to set up a structure as to how we will be able to manage and train athletes in a better way. And in that the high performance managers, who will be there for each sport, will have a secondary task of taking care of the potential talent,” he said.