Shortage of coaches plagues Ludhiana sports department

District sports department in Punjab faces shortage of coaches, with only 14 available for 34 accredited games. Officials acknowledge the issue and plan to increase staff.

The district sports department is grappling with shortage of staff with coaches for only 14 games, sources said.

The department had on February 26 advertised vacancies for 270 coaches for the new sports nurseries. (HT File Photo)

An officer at District Sports Office , on the condition of anonymity, said that the Punjab government had accredited 34 games, but there coaches are available for only 14 games.

A coach with the department here lamented that due to the crunch they were overburdened and instead of focusing on their trainees and producing high-class athletes they were just trying to keep the boat sailing by taking in more players than what they could handle.

“You see, athletics is an umbrella term for a dozen of events but what we have here is a single coach training people for everything from javelin to shotput throw. For example, Neeraj Chopra is an excellent athlete but would it be fair to expect him to train a shot put thrower?” he said.