Even as top athletes across the country rue the dearth of talent at the grass root level, former international high jumper and present coach Nalluswamy Annavi believes an insecure future discourages youngsters from taking to athletics.
In the Capital to guide his pupils at the Asian All- Star Athletics meet, Annavi believes until and unless youngsters are guaranteed a secure livelihood, they wouldn’t take up athletics as a profession.
“ We all need to earn a livelihood. But in India, the prospect for athletics is anything but bright. As a result, youngsters tend to move towards cricket and football. I wouldn’t say that there is a lack of talent. If youngsters see that they can earn a proper living, they would definitely take to athletics.
“ We need to get rid of our unprofessional attitude at the first place. Better planning at the part of the associations in co- ordination with the state and national bodies will improve the overall condition of Indian athletics,” Annavi told our team . He feels developing a sporting culture beyond cricket is the overriding need.
“ In India, all we want is our children taking up cricket. I don’t blame the parents because nobody would want their children to take up a discipline which has neither fame nor scope. We need to forget everything and create a sporting culture in India.
Until and unless we create an environment where every sport is given equal importance and attention, athletics wouldn’t prosper.” “ The worst part is that although former athletes keep volunteering to render their services, nobody pays heed.” Having joined the national camp about a month- and- a- half back, Annavi rues the fact that he couldn’t join the camp earlier.
“ Had I joined at the time of the Asian Grand Prix which took place in Bangalore, I would have had a better chance of preparing the high jumpers for a medal in the Commonwealth Games. I still have hope on three athletes, namely, Sahana Kumari, Nikhil Chittrasu and Hari Shankar Roy.
“ High jump is not an easy discipline. It doesn’t come easily. But I expect them to put up a decent performance,” he said.
An Athletics Federation of India official said getting Annavi on board was delayed as there was already a coach in the camp and he couldn’t be sacked without a reason.
“ We wanted to appoint Annavi for a while now, but not only did we already have a coach looking after the high jumpers, but also Annavi had his own commitments. We finally managed to rope him in and I am confident that he will share all his knowledge to ensure that the athletes put up a great show,’ he added .
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