Queen’s Baton Relay: Aspiring Young Athletes Deprived of Rare Opportunity
By Florine Roche
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Sep 7: Mangalore was one among the six cities in Karnataka along with Mysore, Bangalore, Hassan, Karwar and Belgaum through which Queen’s Baton Relay passed. When the baton arrived in the city on 5th September it was welcomed with great fanfare keeping in tune with the traditions of the commonwealth games (CWG). The relay is the symbol of gathering people from across the commonwealth countries to this sports carnival being held every four years. India being the host country, it is an opportunity for the sports lovers to be a part of this great tradition.
Though CWG 2010 are rot with scandals galore with lots of skeletons tumbling out of its cupboard in the last two months, Mangalore city was preparing for this eventful occasion for almost six months and the responsibility of conducting its smooth journey in Mangalore was given to district Youth and Sports Services department. A close look at the way the entire event was conducted on 5th September clearly shows that the Youth and Sports department as well as the district administration have bungled miserably in conducting this prestigious event. Many athletes who had represented the country at international meets expressed their disappointment at having neglected by not inviting to the event to take part in the queen’s baton relay. Some of the athletes were invited at the last moment and having done so was sidelined after making them wait at 20 identified places without handing over the baton.
Satish Kudroli, who had represented the country 9 times in international power lifting competitions and six time Asian medalist and Ekalavya award winner was invited to the function on the night of September 4 and was asked to come at Hampankatta circle, one of the 20 places identified to change the baton, at 6.15 p m on 5th September to continue the baton relay from there. But when the baton arrived at the destination where Satish was enthusiastically waiting, the relay team comprising former MUDA Chairman Tejomay and others did not bother to pass the baton to him as was planned originally. “I was told to wait at the Hampankatta Circle at 6 15 pm and when the baton relay arrived no one bothered to handover it to me. I was completely crestfallen and had no other option but to return home” says Satish. In fact there was more of chaos than orderliness throughout the journey of the queens relay baton from Kadri Park to the Town Hall.
What is even shocking, alarming and even regrettable is the fact that the primary, high school and junior college sports students, who form the future sports talent of the district and physical education teachers who groom them, were not invited to participate in the queen’s baton relay thus depriving young and upcoming sports persons from a rare opportunity of participating in the baton relay. As the photographs of the event clearly indicate politicians and officials and their sycophants were jostling in their bid to hog limelight with Olympians who had the honor of receiving the baton from the first citizen of the city, Mayor Rajang Dugganna. As a result, the youngsters who could have derived inspiration from being a part of this grand event have lost a life time opportunity due to the sheer negligence, indifference and indolence of the officials who were in charge of conducting this event.
The omission of sports students at the root level is a major faux pas on the part of the organizers which has come as a shocker to the PD’s of high school and pre- university colleges. Nagesh A, President of Mangalore City Physical Education Association, who is the Physical Education teacher at Government Hr Pry School at Kudroli, says “it was indeed a surprise to us as our sports students were not invited to be a part of this impressive event. They use the teachers for all sundry work but when it comes to grandeur events those who are not involved in grooming young sports persons manage to hog limelight. This was a serious blunder and we will take up the issue in the next meeting of the association. But such an opportunity comes rarely and our students missed it”.
Roshan Ferrao, the Asia Pacific gold medalist in body building competition held in New Zealand on August 28, this year was hurt for being sidelined by the sports mandarins of the district. He arrived from New Zealand on 4th September, but was not invited to participate in the baton relay. “It is very disgusting to realize that athletes like us who win medals even at international levels do not get recognition we deserve. There was no one to receive us or acknowledge our achievement and we did not get even an invite for the queen’s baton relay”. Roshan and others like him can take heart from the fact that even the name of coach Dinesh Kunder, who has been instrumental in grooming many national and international level athletes including M R Poovamma and Vikas Putran, was included at the nick of time, that too at the insistence of the District Commissioner. There is every reason to believe that it was done deliberately and was not an omission by oversight.
One of the physical education teachers of St Aloysius High School, Kodialbail says “Our students are the roots and we prepare these roots by nurturing them during their formative years. We were not invited to this event which exemplifies the trivialization of such an inspiring event by these organizers who have failed to realize the significance of participation of youngsters in such a brilliant event. It is sad to note that some international level athletes and even Ekalavya awardees were not invited to be part of the commonwealth relay baton in our own city”.
Panduranga, Assistant Director of Youth and Sports Services Department, Mangalore, says the circular seeking the participation of sports student and PDs was sent to the office of Dy Director of Public Instructions (DDPI). “We held meetings of various sports associations and we had asked them to give nominations of athletes who have made a mark at national and international meets. Except from Athletics and Basketball other associations did not respond favorably to our requests. We have given preference to Olympians and other sports personalities who had played a pivotal role in bringing name and fame to the country and to the district”.
It cannot be denied that officially the department must have done its duty of sending invitations. But is it not their responsibility to ensure participation by following it up? One cannot shirk responsibility saying invitations were sent to the DDPI office. There is a separate Director of Physical Education who should have been given the responsibility of ensuring the participation by athletes from High School and pre-university colleges. Director of Physical Education M N Naik when contacted was fumbling for a possible explanation for the lack of participation of athletes from high school and pre-university. He said he received an invitation from the organizers. However, he agreed that students from Mangalore were conspicuous by their absence and he had no convincing answer for this gaffe.
It has now come to light that Tejomaya, former MUDA chairman, one of the members of the Committee formed by the district administration, was in favor of participation by only college and university athletes leaving out young and aspiring athletes. How the other committee members accepted his suggestion blindly is a moot question!
It is true Olympians and other athletes of international repute deserved the honor and respect given to them. However, the question that arises is, should it be done at the cost of the young and aspiring athletes, who would have experienced the rare opportunity of being a part of the this historic event? The inspiration they derived from being a part of this event would have bolstered their morale to a great extent. While the scouts and guides and NCC students were omnipresent the lack of participation by the young brigade was glaringly visible.
It is said that the department had received 100 track suits from Bangalore for the event. No one knows what was the criterion adopted for distributing them. But politicians, officials and even the daughter of an important official of the Zilla Panchayat, a non-athlete, was seen wearing it. When asked about the criterion adopted for distributing them Asst Director Panduranga said “the track suits were sent to the Zillla Panchayat office and distribution was done by them”. This only demonstrates that benefits, however small they may be, usually do not percolate down to people who really deserve it.
Panduranga and team pats its own back saying there was appreciation for the way the entire event was conducted. However, will they explain the non-participation of school and college level sports students and Physical Education teachers? What about omission of some of the important sports personalities to the baton relay namely Ekalavya award winner swimmer Aniketh D Souza and international swimmer Ashwin Kumar and many others like them? Why should they depend on the department of Youth Services and sports need to depend on associations for nominations. Does it not expose their ignorance and inefficiency when they could not contact even Ekalavya award winners, when there are just a handful of them?
It is easy to find excuses for the inanity of the officials of the department in question which is run as their personal fiefdom. However, their attitude and functioning is sure to put off budding youngsters from getting into sports.