Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: Following objections from certain sports associations, the Sports and Youth Services department of the Odisha government has agreed to offer some relaxations to a proposed rule saying athletes above 18 will not be offered accommodation in the sports hostels.

This was stated after an online meeting between the department and associations on Monday. “The existing sports hostel structure will be strengthened and trainees above 18 will be retained on the basis of their performance assessment. We are aiming for the 2024 and 2028 Olympics, where Odia players can shine,” said sports minister Tusharkanti Behera.

“Our objective is to focus on each sports discipline, to offer competitive training and coaching. We had a fruitful discussion with the concerned bodies to take the restructuring proposal forward. Talented sportspersons above 18 will be allowed to continue at the hostels,” said Sports and Youth Services Secretary Vishal Kumar Dev.

He added that select athletes will be accommodated in High-Performance Centres set up by the department. The proposal to make sports hostels unavailable for athletes above 18 was not received well by everybody.

The hockey, athletics, rowing, basketball and volleyball associations were among those who felt players above 18 deserve to be in the sports hostels.

They sounded satisfied after the meeting. “We need to follow more technical and scientific training procedures to equip our athletes. Under restructuring plans, focus is on training athletes below 18. In some cases, players above 18 in team and individual games will be provided hostel facility, on the basis of assessment of performance and prospect of winning medals in national and international events,” said Hockey Odisha secretary Pratap Satapathy. Other associations were also happy that their concerns were addressed.

“We put forward a proposal that 18 is a tender age in many sports. So the players should be provided better infrastructure and coaching facilities,” said officials of Odisha Basketball Association. “Khelo India is the biggest platform in our country to prove our mettle.

To help our team succeed in Khelo India events, we need to provide hostel facilities up to the age of 21- 22. Developing age of an athlete is between 18 to 20, so we must give them the chance to excel,” said former athlete and Olympian Anuradha Biswal.

“Our state took many innovative steps to promote sports. High-Performance Centres have been set up to help local players. After 18 years of age, hockey players who perform consistently will join the Naval Tata Hockey Academy. I have given my suggestions for the restructuring plan to the sports department,” said Odisha Hockey Promotion Council chairperson Dillip Tirkey.

Earlier, capacity in sports hostels was 1250. After restructuring and addition of various High Performance Centres, this figure will rise to 1600.

“The sports department also has plans for athletes with a lesser chance to succeed after 18. They can join various skill development programmes with the support of the government,” Dev added.