Trainees return to Punjab’s stadiums

Indervir Grewal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 21

After lying empty for the better part of the last two years, the Punjab government’s stadiums are buzzing with activity once again. Sent home in March 2020 after the Covid-19 pandemic first hit India, the trainees at the centres run by the Sports Department and the Punjab Institute of Sports (PIS) have “finally” returned; and none could be happier than the coaches.

“The children have finally returned,” Vikram Singh, athletics coach at the PIS Mohali centre, said with a sigh of relief. “It was a strange feeling walking into empty stadiums,” added Vikram while being greeted by his trainees.

The training centres were reopened for about a month early this year. “But before we could make any real progress, the centres were shut down again due to Covid-19,” Vikram said.

There is a palpable mix of excitement and relief among the coaches and their trainees. “Feels great to be back,” said 19-year-old javelin thrower Sheetal.

Starting from zero

But there is also a sense of frustration. “We have to start from zero again,” Sheetal said as her smile disappeared.

While the centres were shut, the young athletes trained at their hometowns. “I was training at my village,” added Sheetal, who belongs to Haryana’s Bhiwani district. “I also had a couple of sessions per week with coach (Vikram) at a training centre in Fatehabad,” she added.

Some trained on their own, while others, such as 17-year-old hockey goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh from Gurdaspur district, sought the help of their local coaches. During tournament season, some athletes returned to train with their coaches but had to rent rooms outside the hostel facility. Many coaches also took in athletes during this time. The department also started online coaching during this period.

Challenges ahead

Despite these initiatives, the pandemic-forced shutdown drastically affected the trainees’ progress. “Maintaining a proper diet is a big factor, so their fitness levels suffered,” said Gurdeep Singh, hockey coach at the Mohali centre. “We tested the fitness parameters of the hockey trainees a couple of days back and the levels have fallen drastically. The trainees are either overweight or underweight,” added Gurdeep.

The coaches said that other aspects such as technical skills and game sense have also declined. “Even though we prepared video sessions for training and also analysed the clips sent by the trainees, it was never going to be the same as live coaching,” said Vikram. “Even if you could make them work on their fitness, correcting technical flaws was not really possible over video,” he added.

It was even harder in team sports like hockey or contact sports like boxing. “You cannot teach game tactics without creating match situations,” Gurdeep said.

The lack of proper training facilities and equipment also played a part in the decline. Goalkeeper Gurpreet said he had to train on grass. “There is no substitute for training on synthetic turf,” he said.

The challenges ahead are tough, especially as the senior trainees will also require rectification, the coaches said. “The newcomers learned much quicker by looking at the senior trainees. It also helped in a smooth transition,” Gurdeep said. “Now we will have to inculcate the correct habits into the seniors as well. Covid has disrupted our system that took years to come together,” he added.

However, the coaches are pumped up on getting the system back on track. “The challenges only motivate me further,” said Dronacharya Award winner BI Fernandez, senior boxing coach at Mohali.

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