Badminton body members seek overhaul of coaching system

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 13

Four days since the present body of the District Badminton Association (DBA) was dissolved, many skeletons have started tumbling out of the cupboard.

While earlier there had been allegations that several businessmen who had no concern with the game had been inducted as life members and that the membership needed to be reviewed, some members have now been suggesting that the coaching system too needs to be completely reviewed by the district administration. The association which has the Deputy Commissioner as its president has taken over the association since it was dissolved on Friday last.

There are five courts in the badminton stadium at Raizada Hans Raj Stadium, which is being managed by the DBA. Of the five courts, only one court has been kept for coaching by the two government-appointed coaches, while the other four are being used for practice by the trainees under three private coaches. The private coaches were hired by the DBA in 2015 for a total salary of nearly Rs 1 lakh per month, despite the fact that none of them is a diploma holder from the National Institute of Sports (NIS) and they have had no prior experience as a coach.

The insiders, who are seeking complete overhaul of the system, have alleged that the coaches hired by the association are closely linked to the senior officer-bearers and had been appointed without any advertisement. The coaches are themselves members of the DBA and are taking home income, which is otherwise not allowed as per the constitution of the Association. Clause number 13 debars members from making any profit or income from the association funds. One of the three private coaches, it is learned, has not gone beyond the district level.

One of the private coaches, Jaideep Kohli, a national-level winner, claims he has helped the DBA raise its standards with his trainees getting positions in state-level contests. He, however, agrees that he has been directly picked without any advertisement and has taken only a 10-day coach training course from the Badminton World Federation. “There is no such provision that prevents me from drawing a salary if I am a DBA member,” he said.

Ashwani Victor, who has been the DBA secretary, said, “We have done everything within the constitutional framework. The decision to recruit these coaches had been taken by the executive headed by the then Deputy Commissioner”.