Former national cycling coach Graham Seers says India have good talent and if groomed properly they can be a force to reckon with at the international level. Abhishek Purohit catches up with Seers, who is in Delhi for Asian Cycling Championships leading the Malaysian contingent
Standing inside the Velodrome arena, Malaysia’s Australian coach Graham Seers is probably the only foreigner who feels happy when an Indian does well and one can easily recognize him as he is the only overseas person who is friendly with the Indian contingent and spends quite a lot of time with them.
When 19-year old Deborah won a bronze medal and 16-year old girl Jashanjit Kaur finished a creditable fourth, Seers is visibly happy and went over to congratulate them. He has good reason for doing so.
Seers was Indian coach from June 2009 to November 2010. More crucially, he guided the Indian team to strong performances in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in 2010.
“I am delighted with the way these girls have performed so far and it is exciting to see the Indian junior girls doing so well as an ex-Indian coach. Not that I am happy for being a previous coach of India, but also as a person who loves cycling, it is great to see these young kids’ talent. Sports is all about being happy and seeing others doing well. Mixing of culture is part of sports. I have spent quality time here and have developed a certain kind of bond with Indian cycling. So, one wants to see how others are performing. So, it is great to be here in India and witness the Asian Cycling Championships,” Seers told The Pioneer on Saturday at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
Seers feels these couple of performances indicate that future of cycling in India is good. “This means that India have depth in the junior team and a good show here will give a major boost to their confidence. They can take that confidence from here to future tournaments,” Seers, who was working with his wife Athalee Brown, a masseur for 20 years, added.
“If they are groomed properly, they can surely win more medals for this country.”
When an overseas coach comes here, his professional work ethics, tend to be different and for that he faces problems with the federation. But Seers feels that such issues are a part of professional life and he left a happy man.
“I did not face that sort of issue. I was employed by them. So, if I suggests something, it is upto them to take it or not. It is completely on them as they have employed me and as a professional, it is part of life. It happens everywhere around the world. I left a happy man after the Asian games. Indian performed well at CWG and I have left a legacy. It is a happy memory for me,” Seers, who feels that shifting to Malaysia made it easier for his family members to meet him as getting a Malaysian visa is easier than getting an Indian one.
But, Seers has one message for the Indian cycling community. “The future of Indian cycling will be good. But, as you see throughout the world, there should be plans for 10 years instead of six months. And it is not that Indian athletes lack fitness or they lack talent. In terms of infrastructure also, India is not that behind. But, what separates countries like Australia, Germany and UK from the weaker nations is the structure and planning that they put in,” he said.
“Moreover, it is not that they are rigid to the plan. The plan is reviewed annually and according to necessity, it gets changed. So, what India needs to do is plan for 10 years. Bring good coaches and pick talent at an early age,” Seers advised.
Recently, cycling has been marred by a series of doping scandals, including that of lance Armstrong, once the ultimate name in cycling. But, Seers does not feel that kids will be averse to come to cycling.
“I don’t think so. It has happened with many sports. Union Cycliste Internationale has taken a positive step towards diluting the record of Armstrong and others. One has got to move on from what happened and if a kid loves cycling, he will take up the sport to create his own image. And about, the dope thing, I would say that the better the awareness, the better the results. It’s like - make the physiological officials work efficiently, you will have the results.”
With so much amount of money coming into sports, one would always indulge in illegal activities to win. But, it should not have happened. The testing process need to be developed and the Armstrong scandal has proved that the doping testing process is not upto mark right now,” he signed off.