PANAJI
Dr Ajay Gaude, the newly-appointed executive director of Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) feels that promotion of sports is a joint venture between DYSA, SAG and state associations.
“The biggest gap earlier was lack of coordination between SAG and DYSA. Both the departments were operating separately. I want to bridge this gap. These are sports promotion bodies. They need to come together and work together on all the issues like coaches, infrastructure maintenance. It’s a joint venture. If we work together, we will get better results, “ Ajay Gaude told The Goan.
“Having both the charges of DYSA and SAG is good because coordination will be better, tasks can be done in a quicker manner and files will not get stuck for a longer time,” Gaude said who is also handling the additional charge as director, Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs (DYSA).
“I am not just an administrator. I am a sportsperson at heart and play different sports such as football, cricket, badminton and carrom. I treat myself less of an administrator and more of a sportsperson. That helps me to run the department more efficiently. I can understand the requirements of a sportsperson in a better manner and can deal with their problems in a more practical way.”
Gaude said that they are currently working on new sports policy and youth policy. Goa currently has a State Sports Policy which was approved in 2009. But, in the last 16 years, much has changed with the rules and regulations.
Among other priorities for him is maintenance of stadiums. Gaude said, “We have 14 sports complexes and 113 grounds in Goa. Rather than coming up with new complexes, let us maintain what we have first rather than go for new projects. We have prepared a report of the existing sporting infrastructure in Goa and what needs maintenance and repair. We will be doing this on a priority basis in the coming days.”
Gaude further added that for revenue generation purpose, some sports complexes can be given for hosting cultural events but not at the cost of damaging the sports facilities over there in the name of events.
“We are also planning for digitization of the sports infrastructure wherein we will be able do booking of the grounds using QR code,” he said.
Among other major issues the sports department in Goa is facing is the lack of good quality coaches.
Gaude said, “Earlier when these coaches joined SAG, many of them did not have NIS certification. They must have joined on the basis of being a national medal winner. But, now NIS diploma is a must for becoming a coach. We have some good coaches in disciplines like football. But, overall, we need more good quality coaches. There are some Olympic disciplines or disciplines like Yachting in which are performing very well where do not have a coach. We are planning to fill these vacancies soon.”
“We have plans to start a refresher course in coaching for coaches who have not done diploma in coaching from NIS. There are also plans to tie-up with some sports university wherein their officials will come down and have short term coaching program for our SAG coaches. We need to upgrade their skills, lot of rules have changed, regulations have changed. If we do not upgrade them, they will not be able to impart the new skills to the younger generation,” Gaude added.
In-fighting among some state association is another challenge that the sports department has to deal with.
“Every association needs to have its accounts cleared. They need to conduct elections properly. Now, sports code proposed by Government of India will be implemented soon. Once that is done, things will get sorted out. There are court cases, internal fights, internal politics going in some associations. Some association have two bodies. This affects the athlete’s preparation. Once the sports code is implemented, these issues should get resolved,” Gaude said.
Goa recently successfully hosted the FIDE World Cup at Rio Resort, Arpora. The tournament had returned to India after a gap of 23 years and much of the credit for successful hosting of the event goes to Ajay Gaude and his team.
“There was not a single complain from anyone. Even a small thing going wrong, they would have made a big issue out of it across the globe. Post World Cup, the FIDE officials came to me and said that they this has been one of the finest and best Chess World Cup they have ever witnessed. They have never seen such kind of hosting of FIDE World Cup across the globe,” said Gaude.
“It was not just playing and coming back to the room. There were break days, excursions visits, sightseeing. It was a very well-organized tournament, “ Gaude added.
It is to be noted that other cities like Chennai, Jaipur were also bidding for this event. But Goa not only managed to win the bid but successfully hosted a world-class chess tournament.
