A few good men

Coaches play a pivotal role in an athlete’s success but are very rarely given due credit

It’s probably not the best of the times to catch national shooting coach Sunny Thomas. The 56-year-old coach is running from pillar to post to iron out last minute hassles and to make sure that all goes well for the Commonwealth Games shooting contingent. “As a coach, it’s my responsibility to make sure that the team is in the right frame of mind,” says Thomas. Spoken as every true coach should, always looking out for his wards, never mind that little credit, if at all, may come his way if the athletes do well.

Thomas has been the national coach for the last 17 years and had shepherded Abhinav Bindra to the gold at Beijing. He is one of India’s world class coaches. But he is not the only one. There’s Arvind Savur, who trained billiards champion Pankaj Advani, and SM Arif who discovered badminton star Saina Nehwal and former All England champion Pullela Gopichand, and under whose tutelage Nehwal has gone on to become one of the top badminton players in the world.

Apart from providing technical guidance in the sport, a coach must play the role of a personal mentor as well. “If a player is doing well, it is mandatory to tell him/her to keep their feet on the ground,” says Gopichand. In a country like ours, where one moment of glory can lead to instant stardom, this is an aspect most coaches struggle with.

Just as Thomas has spearheaded the rise of the shooters, boxing coach G S Sandhu has been pivotal for India becoming a boxing powerhouse. But he is not looking for any credit or recognition. “The satisfaction you get when you see one of your children doing well is unmatched,” says the 58-year-old.

Of course, there are times when they do feel that they have been given a raw deal by the authorities.

VR Beedu, among the best track-and-field coaches in the country, insists that those who run the sports federations shy away from sharing any credit with the coaches. The national coach of the athletics team for various international events, Beedu quit his assignment with the Sports Authority of India at 45, but a decade and a half later he’s still scouting for and honing talent in Bangalore.

“The problem with our sporting culture is that merit is often overlooked. Unless you know the right people in the right places, you will find it difficult both as a player as well as a coach,” he points out.

Billiards coach Arvind Savur is known to keep billiards tables in his Mumbai home and trains youngsters for free. Pankaj Advani, who had a short yet glittering career, has never failed to acknowledge the role Savur played in it.

Take squash coach Cyrus Poncha who has consistently produced top level players like Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal. Poncha believes that one doesn’t have to be a top-level player to become a top-level coach. “Did Phil Jackson who won 10 NBA titles as a coach ever become a star player? Same for Jose Mourinho.” “Once a player is established, all he or she needs is constant guidance and support,” he says.

Coaching involves as much as knowing the tactics as much as it does man management. Each player needs to be handled differently, which is why one-to-one coaching is better, according to most coaches. “There is a fad for camps across the country, but what good are they if they allow only one minute to each student to show his skill?” asks Beedu.

Recognition for coaches continues to be slow and, apart from an award or two, they continue to be treated in a shabby manner. A team’s failure is often blamed on the coach, which leads to them getting the sack. The job can be boring too, what with observing the same routine day in and day out, despite this coaches continue to strive to produce talent, it is because of “the satisfaction of coaching a youngster and seeing him do well,” says Beedu. But Thomas says that every coach knows what he or she is getting into. “You know the pitfalls, but the passion for sport keeps us going.” There’s not much point in being bitter about things, according to Sandhu. “World over, coaches get treated badly but because the sport doesn’t suffer, it’s never a big issue,” he says. Irrespecitve of their personal gains or losses, these coaches continue to toil and work hard for the sake of Indian sport.