Chopra, Gopichand launch coaching excellence school
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and badminton coach Pullela Gopichand launched the Indian School of Coaching Excellence (ISCE) on Thursday, August 13, an initiative aimed at strengthening India's coaching landscape and broader sports ecosystem.
ISCE will focus on developing world-class coaches through multidisciplinary programmes covering physical literacy, sports science, sports education, technology and career development, equipping coaches to meet the demands of high-performance sport, according to a release.
It is designed as a collaborative knowledge-sharing platform that will work with government bodies, the Sports Authority of India, sports federations, associations, high-performance centres, academic institutions and the private sector to advance coaching standards nationwide.
Chopra, who recently won silver at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, said coaches shape an athlete's development as both a sportsperson and an individual, and stressed the need for a strong ecosystem to nurture quality coaching in India.
He said access to world-class education, mentorship and current sports science knowledge for coaches was essential to producing India's next generation of sporting talent, and said his foundation, the Neeraj Chopra Foundation, hoped ISCE would create an environment where coaches keep learning and go on to inspire future athletes.
Gopichand, a Dronacharya awardee who has coached Olympic medallists Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu as well as former men's world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, said the future of Indian sport would be defined by the ecosystem built around it, with coaches at its core.
He described ISCE as an effort to combine global best practices with Indian experience so coaches can continuously upskill, collaborate and lead with confidence, adding that he believed the initiative could shape the next chapter of Indian sport.
The release said ISCE's vision was to build a coaching ecosystem robust enough to sustain India's long-term success internationally, adding that as the country works toward becoming a sporting superpower, success would be measured not just by the champions it produces but by the ecosystem behind them. It added that the initiative was driven by the belief that every athlete deserves a great coach, and every coach deserves access to world-class knowledge, mentorship and opportunity.
(Inputs from PTI)