Football loss is Yoga’s gain in Fatorda

PANAJI

Was it a case of plenty of opportunities but no one to grab them when it came to the football coaching program run by Khelo India at the Fatorda artificial turf?

There was football coaching happening left, right, and centre in and around Fatorda, but no trainees for the Khelo India football coaching centre located in the heart of the city. That was the ground reality which forced Khelo India officials to shut down the Fatorda coaching centre in March last year — the sole centre started in the state under the central government scheme.

The centre for the world’s most popular game, which was non-residential and the only one in the state for football, never really took off, with lack of attendance being the main issue.

The closure of the football centre in Fatorda has raised many questions.

Was it due to a lack of focus from the coaches, lack of support from top officials of the Sports Authority of Goa and the Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs, or simply too many coaching opportunities in and around Margao?

The Goa Football Development Council (GFDC), which operates around 40 centres across the state, has a few centres in and around Margao and its suburbs. Were those centres the reason why children stuck with GFDC and not the Khelo India coaching?

Officials who were — and still are — closely involved at the ground level with the Khelo India project in Goa say that a number of factors led to the lack of interest among Goan youth in attending football training at the Fatorda artificial ground.

GFA officials stated they were in no way involved in the Khelo India coaching program in Fatorda.

“We were not involved in the Khelo India football centre in Fatorda in any way,” said GFA Senior Vice President Jonathan D’Souza.

“It was directly run by the central government, and the Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs and Sports Authority of Goa were involved. The state association (GFA) was not involved,” he added.

Khelo India runs two types of centres in the state: residential and non-residential.

The Khelo India State Centre of Excellence (KISCE) and Khelo India Centres — the latter being non-residential — operate in Goa. For instance, hockey training is currently being imparted to over 40 children aged 9 to 18 at the Peddem Ground in Mapusa under the non-residential model.

The KISCE centre, a residential facility also based in Peddem, Mapusa, trains children in swimming, badminton, and table tennis.

The state government has plans to start Khelo India Centres in all talukas of Goa, as per a statement made by Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant.