For any country that harbours the ambition of becoming a sporting nation, giving support to their athletes is a fundamental part of a bigger process. Success in the sporting world is never an overnight process, it’s decades in the making with the help of a robust programme that will produce medallists for years to come. A welcome initiative by the government of Odisha is the establishment of High-Performance Centres to develop the sporting landscape.
In an exclusive interview with SPOGO, Mr. Vishal Dev, Principal Secretary, Sports, Govt of Odisha elaborated on the vision behind High Performance Centres, athletes and organizations currently affiliated, key focus areas, improving the standards of athletes, grassroot development, injury rehabilitation and mental health, government support and future goals!
Q 1) What was the vision behind the inception of High Performance Centres in Odisha?
In 2018, just before the Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018, under the vision of our Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik’s “Sports for Youth, Youth for Future’ we embarked on a new journey when we announced the establishment and setting up of 11 High-Performance Centres (HPCs) in 10 sports disciplines with the aim to develop elite athletes and strengthen the sporting landscape in the State. We chose disciplines where not only our Odia athletes were doing well and had the potential to excel, but also the disciplines which have high medal possibilities. This model has proved successful in many developed countries and we wanted to explore the same within our sports ecosystem. The aim is to develop these high-performance centres into the finest coaching and training centres for that particular sport in the country.
Q 2) What are the facets of this model? Who are the professional athletes or sporting organizations you are currently working with?
This is a unique partnership model with corporates and eminent sports persons where the government provides the infrastructure, corporates fund through their CSR and sports organisations bring in the expertise. Collectively, we work towards creating an institution for sporting excellence.
For Hockey, we have partnered with Tata Steel and Tata Trust; Football with AIFF and Odisha FC; Weightlifting with KJS Ahluwalia and Anil Kumble’s Tenvic Sports; Athletics with Reliance Foundation; Swimming with JSW Group; Shooting with Aditya Birla Group and Gagan Naranga’s Gagan Narang Sports Promotion Foundation; Badminton with Dalmia Bharat and Pullela Gopichand’s Pullela Gopichand Badminton Foundation; Sports Science with Rungta Mines and Abhinav Bindra’s Abhinav Futuristics Pvt Ltd and Sport Climbing. We also have a Centre of Excellence in Sports Management with KJS Ahluwalia Group and Xaviers Emlyon Business School, that aims to develop professionals for the Sports sector.
Q 3) Which are the major sporting disciplines that these High Performance Centres majorly focus on?
Currently, we have High Performance Centres in Weightlifting, Swimming, Shooting, Football, Hockey, Sport Climbing, Athletics. In addition, we have a HPC on Sports Science and a Centre of Excellence in Sports Management.
Our Badminton HPC which was earlier scheduled to be launched in 2020, was delayed to the pandemic and will be completed in December, 2021. Construction is in full swing and we expect the HPC to nurture shuttlers of world class standards in the future under the aegis of the renowned Pullela Gopichand.
Q 4) How are Odisha’s High Performance Centres improving the standard of athletes?
Each High Performance Centre is led by a team of seasoned professionals and have engaged expert coaches, with commendable records. Once the athletes are selected for the HPC, they have access to the finest sports infrastructure and allied facilities. Efforts are focused on their training and programming, recovery, injury prevention & rehabilitation, nutrition and mental wellness. They also compete at different national level competitions which helps the team to gauge and improve their performance. Recently, at the 1st Hockey India Women’s Academy Junior and Sub Junior Championships, the Girls from Hockey HPC put up a stellar show and won silver in Sub junior and bronze in Junior. In individual sports too, many athletes, within a short span, have improved on their personal bests.
The hub of high performance centres – Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar
Q 5) What is the plan to produce home grown talent that can compete at the highest level?
We have visions for making it of international quality. Our goal is to nurture grassroots talent to the elite level so that there is a proper path of progression. For this, we are strengthening the grassroots talent identification system so that we identify more and more kids from a younger age, put them into the right kind of training programmes and once they reach the elite levels , they get the best training and coaching in the world. This will enhance the chances of our boys and girls winning medals for the country and international meets.
Q 6) What are the various ways Odisha’s high performance centres help athletes through injury rehabilitation and prevention as well as prioritizing mental health?
All athletes of our ecosystem including our HPCs have access to the Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance Centre, within the Kalinga Stadium. A team of physiotherapists and world class bio mechanics assist athletes through their injury, rehabilitation and prevention.
As the science of sport performance evolves, it becomes increasingly important to integrate the mental and physical aspect of performance. We have collaborated with Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust who have expertise in Sports Psychology and are currently working to develop specialists who could address these issues and help improve participants’ wellbeing and performance.
Q 7) What are your future goals and aspirations and how do you plan to achieve them?
Producing medal prospects for the country is the key goal but for now, looking ahead, we hope to build on the strong foundation laid by the HPC in the first year and make significant strides towards the development of the athletes. We hope that the athletes continue on this path of holistic progress. We hope domestic competitions resume in the coming times and they can train and improve on their performances and in time translate to medal-winning performances at competition. We are collectively working towards India’s Olympic dream of being amongst the top ten countries in upcoming editions.
Q 8) How does the Government support the High Performance Centres?
In this model, the Government provides world class infrastructure and works as a key facilitator. In order for the success of the High Performance Centres, it is important that there is a strong feeder system put in place. One of the main responsibilities of the government as a partner in HPCs is to set up a strong feeder system, in consultation with the HPC technical partner. This would include setting up and upgrading existing sports coaching units at the district level, such as our sports hostels, which can become a tremendous feeder system to the HPC.
It also includes facilitating talent scouting drives for our partners into all talent hubs across Odisha, so everyone in the State with talent can chart a route to the HPC for themselves. In summary, we see our effort at the grassroots as being one of the most important pieces of the process to deliver maximum impact through the HPCs. Apart from this, we are engaged in close co-ordination with the HPC partners on a daily basis through consultants and officers of the Govt., in order to ensure that the centers run seamlessly.
There are also phased plans in place to further build on the training offered at the HPCs which will make these centres lucrative to all sports persons across the country, going forward.
