Two city coaches find place in Administrator’s advisory council

For the first time in recent years, the Administrator’s advisory council features two meritorious coaches who have contributed not only to local sports, but also worked with various international players. In addition, one of the sports administrators has also been included in the 54-member council by the virtue of being president of a local political party.

In a welcome step, India’s Dronacharya Award winner boxing coach Shiv Singh and international coach Surinder Mahajan have been included in the council. Besides, Vijay Pal, office-bearer of the local volleyball association, has also been included in the council as he holds the charge of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) president.

Shiv, whose photograph also features on the Hall of Fame wall of the UT Sports Department at the Sector 42 Sports Complex, had remained the chief coach of the Indian boxing teams and has the honour of training international boxers including Gaurav Bhiduri, Simranjit Kaur, Akhil Kumar, Simranjit Kaur and Vijender Singh. Not only on the international stage, Shiv also worked closely with the UT Sports Department, Indian Army and with boxers of Chandigarh, his home town.

Beside him is Mahajan, who is general secretary of the Chandigarh Badminton Association and joint secretary of the Badminton Association of India. He worked with Olympian PV Sindu, Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap and many others. He has his coaching stints with Indian national coach Pullela Gopichand. Last year, he was appointed manager of the senior Indian badminton team for the Asian Badminton Championship to be held at Selangor in Malaysia.

In Chandigarh, Mahajan has not only closely worked with the UT Sports Department, but also coached local players to win accolades at various national and international levels. He also trains young coaches across India during the BAI’s annual sports calendar.

Both meritorious coaches come with a rich experience of over 20 years. Mahajan has also trained European players in the past and conducted various camps in Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Besides coaching, both the coaches have a rich experience in conducting national and state-level championships in Chandigarh and other parts of the country.

The previous committee

The previous committee on Administrator’s advisory council for sports had featured Olympian shooter Abhinav Bindra who hardly attended any meeting. BJP leader Sanjay Tandon, who is also president, Union Territory Cricket Association (Chandigarh), was appointed as the chairman of the committee. At first, he was included in the council on the virtue of being the Chandigarh BJP president. However, after being replaced, he was made the chairman in his individual capacity in February 2020.

The committee, which worked for nearly four years, held various meetings to discuss issues regarding the sports policy, cash awards for players and development works among other things. However, issues like equal rights for all sports associations, improving the existing infrastructure, promotion of local coaches and appointment of District Sports Officer (DSO) remained unsolved.