Gopi draws up Olympic plan

The Pullela Gopichand Badminton Foundation and Mytrah Foundation have come together to launch a first-of-its-kind coach-led athlete-centric sports initiative in India. The initiative aims to contribute towards bridging the current gaps in the Indian sports sector, to further the objectives of Niti Aayog and to develop a scientific sports ecosystem in the country.

The Gopichand-Mytrah Sports Initiative will empower development of Sports Ecosystem (Coaches, athletes, scientific staff); primarilyin Athletics and Badminton, by providing a holistic set of inputs to excel at the global level.

The programme has been envisaged by P. Gopichand in consultation with Ramesh Nagapuri, SAI National Coach and Dronacharya Award winner (2016) and the Mytrah Foundation. It will be executed by a professional team under Gopichand’s supervision.

The pan-India initiative will follow a hub-and-spoke model with Hyderabad as its hub and sub centers to be developed in a phased manner across the country.

The team will identify promising athletes through transparent and scientific methods. Coaches will be empowered with best global practices, putting in place a global standard sports science team, implementing their tournament exposure planning and providing scientific equipment for assessment. Athletes will be provided scientific training, appropriate tournament exposure, and the best tools and equipment to address basic needs for maximizing their potential. The overall solution will use an integrated approach where coaches, sports science staff, athletes and the research team will work cohesively to create a nurturing environment for the whole ecosystem.

Highlighting the unique nature of the collaboration, Gopichand said, “We at the Gopichand Foundation are committed to the cause of development of a sports eco system that integrates its key stakeholders — the athletes, coaches, sports science staff and related professionals.

Speaking on the initiative, Ravi Kailas, Chairman, Mytrah Energy, said “We plan to adopt a coach-based approach since proper coaching from the formative stage is critical for athletes to be competitive at the world stage. Our longer term objective is to support the Niti Aayog in its goal of enabling India to win 50 medals in the 2024 Olympics.’’