Jharkhand is the host for 2nd South Asian Federation (SAF) Junior Athletics Championships but it’s not a participant. Among the 64 athletes representing India at this under-20 (age group) mega sports event scheduled at Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Athletics Stadium from November 10-12, none of the athletes are from Jharkhand.
People directly or indirectly associated with sports and athletics in Jharkhand blame it to their luck and State Government to some extent for not giving enough training opportunities.
Explaining in detail, a State coach of junior athletics Yogesh Prasad Yadav said, “For the past two or three years our junior and senior athletes fail to grab a distinguished position at the national camps. Moreover, most of the talented athletes reside in rural areas where there are hardly any athletics facilities. Athletes at the State capital are devoid of using the available athletics infrastructure and rarely get State training camp sessions.”
Yogesh highlighted on 25th National Inter-Zonal Athletics Championships at Kochi from September 21-23, 53rd National Open Athletics Championships held at Ranchi from September 7-10 and Asian Schools Track and Field Championships in Malaysia which were considered for selection of SAF junior players. “Undoubtedly, junior players of Kerala and Tamil Nadu led these games. Underestimating our home athletes is the fault of Athletics Federation of India (AFI),” he added.
Dronacharya awardee Archer of Jharkhand Purnima Mahato feels the necessity of developing the competitive spirit among the local athletes. “Till date whatever national athletic events I have observed, the failure of training and selection skills are clearly reflected among our athletes. It is always Haryana or southern states leading the game, she maintained.
“We fail to encourage our talented sportspersons since there are complications of using the available sports infrastructure at Mega Sports Complex regularly. State government assures us to grant funds and infrastructure. Unfortunately, it remains a verbal encouragement with no implementation,” Jharkhand Olympic Association’s (JOA) joint secretary Ajay Roy said,
Despite several efforts, none of the AFI, state sports department officers or athletics association
staffs responded on telephone
for this issue.
The game consisting of 24 athletics events, 12 for women and 13 for men has maximum athletes from Tamil Nadu and Kerala. West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Punjab, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana athletes have also succeeded in including their names in this sport tournament. As many as 500 participants, 200 technical officials and 200 volunteers from eight Asian countries including India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri lanka are expected to contest this game.