20 Sep :The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has issued detailed guidelines for more efficient management of coaching camps, selection of coaches and selection of athletes. This follows the Government’s acceptance of recommendations of Sh. T. S. Krishna Murthy ‘s enquiry report submitted to it last week .
Sh. Krishna Murthy was appointed by the Government to examine the circumstances & issues connected with dope testing of Weightlifter, Ms. L. Monika Devi. The Report mentions that it is necessary to improve coordination among all concerned with the management of Coaching Camps, Selection of Coaches, Selection of Athletes, etc.
In order to put this recommendation into operation, the Ministry has sent a communication to Director General, Sports Authority of India, President , Indian Olympic Association, President &Secretary General of all National Sports Federations. The Communication says that the following action should be taken immediately by all concerned.
1. MANAGEMENT OF COACHING CAMPS
(i) The Sports Authority of India, in consultation with the National Sports Federation concerned, shall work out a detailed yearly calendar of coaching camps, to be conducted in a particular discipline well in advance, in no circumstances later than 31st January every year. This calendar should be prepared based on the Long Term Development Plan (LTDP) for that discipline, and should be in consonance with the International/National calendar of events in that discipline. In case the coaching camp is being conducted by the National Sports Federation concerned, the same guidelines shall be applicable to them as well.
(ii) The calendar of events so prepared, should contain detailed information about dates and period of coaching camp, venue (SAI or any other), number of players likely to attend the camp, coaches and supporting personnel staff.
(iii) The list of probables for each coaching camp, shall be decided along with the LTDP, on the basis of either National Championship or open selection trials.
(iv) A panel of coaches and supporting personnel including doctors, physiotherapists, psychologists, physiologists, scientific officers, masseurs etc. shall be prepared and made a part of the LTDP.
(v) The yearly requirements of food supplements, equipments (consumable/non-consumable) training kits, should also be worked out while preparing the yearly calendar.
(vi) The coaching calendar along with the requirements as detailed above, shall be circulated to all SAI centres, well in advance to enable them to make necessary arrangements, and to ensure smooth conduct of the camps.
(vii) The venue allocated for a particular coaching camp, shall not be changed under any circumstances, unless warranted by unavoidable situations, which shall be done only after taking due approval of the competent authority.
(viii) It shall be the responsibility of SAI/NADA, to ensure that random dope tests are conducted in each camp as per the guidelines.
(ix) The travel plan and ticketing of every player, shall be carried out and informed to the player, well in advance of the dates of the coaching camp.
(x) The National Coach shall evaluate the progress and performance of the players in the coaching camp, and make recommendations to the Selection Committee, regarding discontinuation of players showing unsatisfactory performance, or inclusion of new probables giving due justification for the name.
2. SELECTION OF COACHES
(i) The National Coach shall be selected by a selection committee with President of the NSF concerned as its Chairman, DG(SAI), ED(TEAMS), one ex-international players (preferably Arjuna Awardee or International medal winner), to be nominated by the Government, and the nominee of IOA from the panel prepared by SAI.
(ii) The National Coach shall be appointed by SAI, after careful consideration of the names recommended by this Selection Committee.
(iii) The Selection Committee, in consultation with the National coach, shall choose other members of the coaching team.
(iv) The team of coaches, sport scientists, experts etc shall not normally be changed or modified, once chosen till the Asian/Olympic Games are over.
(v) While selecting the National Coach, Assistant Coach and other members of the coaching team, due care should be taken to ensure, that no person with tainted record is selected as a member of the coaching team.
(vi) While selecting the team for participation in any international event it shall be ensured, that only those coaches/supporting personnel are selected, who have been with the team during the coaching camp on continuous basis.
3. SELECTION OF ATHLETES
(i) The selection of sportspersons for participation in major international events shall be the responsibility of National Sports Federations (NSF) concerned, and Government and the Sports Authority of India, will not have direct involvement in the selection process, except to ensure that it is fair and transparent.
(ii) The selection criteria/norms shall be clearly communicated by the NSFs to all concerned viz., players, coaches, Government Observers etc. well in advance and be put up on the website of the NSF concerned and also be forwarded to SAI and the Ministry to be put up on their respective websites.
(iii) In case of measurable event, the minimum qualifying norms may be fixed and announced along with the notice for Selection Trials and be put up on the website of the NSF concerned and also be forwarded to SAI and the Ministry to be put up on their respective websites.
(iv) The holding of the selection trials should be announced at least one month in advance of dates of the trials.
(v) In team events the Selection Trials should be held two months in advance and in the case of contact games, the selection trials should be held at least one month in advance of the competition event.
(vi) The selection shall be done by a Selection Committee, consisting of the President of the NSF as the chairman, the National coach and eminent ex-sportspersons, preferably Arjuna awardees. There shall be no Government Observer/SAI nominee, as member, in the Selection Committee.
(vii) The NSFs shall send invitation to the Government Observer, for attending the selection trials, and the selection committee meetings, as an Observer, atleast 15 days in advance, which shall further be followed up on personal basis. The Government Observer must send his/her report, directly to SAI and the Ministry, without delay.
(viii) The national coach shall evaluate the progress and performance of each player on regular basis, and submit the report to the Selection Committee and Sports Authority of India.
(ix) The athletes who were not in the coaching camp organized prior to the Selection may be allowed to participate in the selection trials, only in exceptional cases with due justification.
(x) The proceedings of the Selection should spell out in detail, the selection criteria, the past performance of the players, and their performance in the selection trials.
(xi) The team once finalized for a particular event shall not be changed under any circumstances, unless warranted by unavoidable situations with due justification and the changes shall be informed to all concerned.
(xii) NSFs shall keep the performance of each athlete on its web site. This should be updated at least once a month along with rankings, if applicable.
(xiii) The athlete once selected for a team, shall be treated with utmost dignity. In case of any doubt arising, the athlete has to be taken into confidence. Proper appeal mechanism shall be put in place, to ensure proper and timely redressal of their grievances.
The Government’s communication also clarifies that as specific provisions exist in the Scheme for preparation of Teams for Commonwealth Games 2010, matters connected with management of coaching camps, selection of coaches, selection of core probables would continue to be governed by the provisions of the scheme.