BERHAMPUR: With infrastructure for development of sports taking strides in the district, lack of formally trained coaches has posed a picture of irony.
The State Government has allocated funds for modernisation of Berhampur Stadium, playgrounds in schools and colleges, indoor stadium in Chhatarpur and Hinjilicut, swimming pool in Chhatrapur, integrated sports complex at Aruapalli near Chhatrapur, sports arena by BeMC, proposed mini stadium and open gymnasium in every block of the district. But no attention has been given to recruiting adequate professional trainers for different sports.
Only senior players train budding sportspersons. Sadly, the number of coaches appointed by State Government in Berhampur Sports Hostel is only four.
While District Sports Officer Prasant Kumar Sahu is busy with official engagements, other trainers are either about to retire or have already retired. Worse, coaches in Chhatarpur, who have been trained in National Institute of Sports (NIS), are unemployed.
A case in point is Berhampur University which has earmarked `7.63 lakh for sports in its next budget. It has only one coach for football despite the tradition of training its players under NIS-trained coaches during inter-university competitions. Prof Pushpanjali Samantray, secretary, Sports Council, BU said the syndicate has sanctioned the appointment of new coaches.