By KUMKUM KHANSULI
DEHRADUN, 12 Feb: While the 38th National Games go on in full swing, bringing athletes from across the country, the Judo arena at the Monal Hall, MPSC witnessed intense action. Uttarakhand has so far, acquired four medals in the game- 2 golds in 60 and 63 kgs categories by Sidharth Rawat and Unnati Sharma, 1 silver in 73 kgs by Pardeep Rawat and 1 bronze in 66kg by Ayush Mawari.
Amidst this, two experienced Judo coaches- a state coach and the other from MPSC- shared their insights, not just on the ongoing event but on the broader landscape of sports training, athlete development, and the evolving dynamics of judo in India.
Madhuri Jayara, a state coach gave a massive credit to the state’s government for it’s programs like ‘Mukhyamantri Udiyaman Khiladi Unnayan Yojana’ where the scheme aims to provide financial assistance to budding sportspersons aged 8 to 14 years. Under this initiative, 150 boys and 150 girls from each of the 13 districts are selected annually, totaling 3,900 young athletes. Each selected athlete receives a monthly scholarship of ₹1,500 to encourage their participation and development in sports. Similarly, for emerging athletes aged between 14 and 23, 100 boys and 100 girls from each of the state’s districts are selected annually, totaling 2,600 beneficiaries. Each selected athlete receives a monthly scholarship of ₹2,000, along with an annual grant of ₹10,000 for purchasing sports equipment.
On being asked how are these sportspersons are selected, initially, and how does the sports department work from selection to making of policies for players to implementing these on ground, she said, ” The coaches are recruited at the district level. The government brings in the schemes while the sports department implements it by making the coaches select the potential players by taking a battery test- which includes checking their strength, endurance by several tests like running, shot put, throw ball, etc. Then the selected players are given the benefits of these schemes for their diet, training and equipments. She then added-“The state government organised 3 camps of 15 days each for training of the players for the national games this time, of which the result is evident as a drastic rise of Uttarakhand’s position this time”. She says that the motive is to provide facility to join and then when the players start to enjoy the game, they continue and the scholarship harnesses the player better.
In another conversation with another judo coach- Manisha Rani, at the Maharana Pratap Sports College who has been a national judo player back in the day told Garhwal Post that 23 players have participated this time in judo from Uttarakhand of which 4 medals have been acquired for the state so far. When asked about a coach’s significant role in a players better performance, she said- “A coach’s role is more than just training. They require to take care of each player physically from maintaining a healthy diet to the required weight for the game and support them for a positive mental health. On asking about Uttarakhand mind-blowing performance this time, like Jayara, she too appreciated the state government’s role in providing from financial support to the players to organising camps and providing world class equipments this time.
Uttarakhand, so far, have bagged 95 medals. 22 of which are golds, 32 silvers and 41 bronzes. The state is currently standing on 7th position in the medal tally and has been on it’s best performance in the National Games.
