AFI Strategies The National Camp For Indian Elite Athletes
Indian athletics is on the threshold of a new revolution in training. The AFI has finally decided to end long-duration national coaching camps for most athletes except those on relay teams. Now, athletes are free to train at their own choice centers which could include private academies, armed forces training facilities or any of the SAI-designated centers such as the National Centre of Excellence. AFI Aims For Athlete Expansion And Localized Training This will essentially help the organization increase its talent pool while providing the same talent with a platform to train near their home towns. The organization will still monitor the performances of these athletes through a specific team so that even though it’s decentralized, performance is still maximized. The policy was recently adopted in the AFI Annual General Meeting that took place in Chandigarh earlier this week. AFI To Depute Foreign Coaches At Important Training Centers Foreign coaches will be stationed at selected training centers to provide specialized guidance under the new plan. For example, Scott Simmons, a middle and long-distance running expert from the United States, will be deputed to the SAI NCOE in Bengaluru. Olympic and world medalist Sergey Makarov will be appointed in charge of the javelin program at the SAI Patiala center. Besides, the sprint coaches of Jamaica, Jason Dawson and Jerry Holmes, will henceforth coach men’s and women’s sprinters respectively at the SAI Thiruvananthapuram center. AFI Focuses On Relay Teams With Centralized Training While most athletes will train at decentralized locations, AFI will continue to have centralized training for specific groups, notably the 400m runners and mixed relay teams. The reason behind this decision is the disappointing performance of Indian relay teams at the Olympics. AFI has emphasized that these relay athletes will only be considered for selection if they commit to training together as a team at the national camp in Thiruvananthapuram. AFI Collaborated With SAI To Enhance The Facilities Of Athletes In collaboration with the Sports Authority of India (SAI), AFI is working to ensure that training facilities at major centers are upgraded to international standards. Some athletes, like steeplechaser Avinash Sable, have chosen to train at SAI centers. Sable, for instance, is now training at the Bengaluru center. Other athletes, including an Asian Games sprint medalist and a long jumper, have opted to train at private academies with their personal coaches. To maintain the sanctity of the program, the AFI monitoring cell will create a list of all athletes undergoing training at places across the nation. These lists would be handed over to NADA, making sure that out-of-competition testing is performed for all these athletes as a way of constantly ensuring clean sport in Indian athletics. The Sportz Planet Desk,Atharva Shetye
