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State athletics c’ship washed out in Sangli; athletes relieved they don’t have to drag through the mud
The change of schedule has come as a relief to many athletes who were apprehensive about the fact that the Maharashtra Athletics Association (MAA) had agreed to host this state-level tournament on a mud track in Sangli, as opposed to a synthetic track.
The Maharashtra State Junior Athletics Championship 2019, which was scheduled to commence on August 10, has been postponed due to the incessant rainfall in Sangli. However, this change of schedule has come as a relief to many athletes who were apprehensive about the fact that the Maharashtra Athletics Association (MAA) had agreed to host this state-level tournament on a mud track in Sangli, as opposed to a synthetic track.
This is not the first time that a state selection tournament is being held on a mud track. Last year, the same tournament was held in Nagpur on a mud track and many athletes struggled on the surface, with a few of them getting injured as well. The rest failed to put in their best performance as they were accustomed to the synthetic track.
The athletes who are inured to synthetic tracks are clearly unhappy to see a state-level tournament being handled with such complacency. Athletes who train on a mud track can easily adapt to a synthetic track, which can help them improve their performance too, but an athlete who trains on a synthetic track faces a big challenge when it comes to performing on a mud track.
Abhishek Ubhe, an athlete who trains at Pune Athletics Club and has participated in international tournaments, stated that starting from the district level, every athletics meet should be organised on a synthetic track. “If we have got six synthetic tracks in Pune, and still have to compete on a mud track in a state selection tournament, what is the purpose of the six tracks?” said Ubhe.
All the concerned athletes who spoke on the issue had one common thing to say – they cannot improvise on their personal best time if they have to run on a mud track.
And why does the timing matter?
In a state-level selection tournament, the athletes have to beat a given time to qualify for the national level. The given time to beat is the time which has been set by an athlete who finished sixth in the previous national-level tournament. It does not matter which place the participants finish in, as long as they beat the given time. Once they have qualified under the given time, they are selected for the national-level.
Pune Athletics Club head coach, Arvind Chavan, believes that the athletes are going to be at a disadvantage in Sangli, as the qualifying time will be set according to a national-level synthetic track, unless the organisers adjust the time according to the condition of the track or shift the tournament to a synthetic track.
Similar events unfolded two-years ago when this competition was held on the same track in Sangli. Many athletes, who had the potential to qualify for the national-level, failed to beat the clock because they were used to sprinting and competing on synthetic tracks and failed to qualify for the national-level.
So, why was Sangli selected?
After the annual general meeting with the district athletics authorities of Maharashtra, MAA did not have any one coming forward to host the senior and junior athletics selection tournaments. The districts did not volunteer to host this tournament mainly because of the lack of funds or the lack of facilities, or both, or because their tracks were damaged.
So, the senior selection tournament was conducted in Mumbai, while Sangli was finalised as the venue for the juniors’ selection, as no other district approached the MAA.
Pune was considered as a venue, according to the MAA, but their first choice track at Balewadi Sports Complex was unavailable and the other tracks did not have proper equipment or facilities to host a tournament of this stature. There are seven synthetic tracks in Pune, and none of them were deemed fit by the MAA for this tournament.
According to the general secretary and spokesperson of MAA, Satish Uchil, the new head of the Pune District Amateur Athletics Association (PDAAA), Sumant Waikar, is still settling into his role and he is yet to familiarise himself with the job he is supposed to do. Uchil expects Waikar to settle in quickly, so that future tournaments in Pune can be executed smoothly.
Ironically, the MAA is helpless if a district is unable to conduct a tournament as they cannot force any district to host an event. In case the rains fail to cease, and the track conditions are sub-par, the MAA has decided to shift the tournament to Ratnagiri, where there is a synthetic track.
Satish Uchil mentioned that no athlete will be forced to run on a substandard surface. He also added that athletes from all over the state are going to participate in the tournament and most of these young athletes practice on mud tracks, while some of them do not even have a proper track to train on.
Local athletes, who have participated in national and international tournaments, were concerned when they heard about the state selection meet being held on a mud track in a district which is currently battling floods, due to the heavy downpour. The tournament has already been postponed and if circumstances do not change, the MAA will have to switch to plan B, and move the tournament to Ratnagiri, which is a venue for the U-16 and U-14 athletics state selection tournament.
The President of the MAA refused to speak on the subject.
‘Lack of funds stopping dist assocs to hold tournaments’
Satish Uchil, general secretary and spokesperson of MAA, spoke to Oumar Aga on the state athletics championship 2019.
There are numerous districts in Pune with synthetic tracks. Why was this tournament kept on a mud track in Sangli?
We expect a little over thousand children to participate in this tournament. To accommodate a number that big, we will require a stadium like Balewadi, but it is not available. The tournament can’t be carried out on any other track in Pune due to the lack of proper equipment and facilities. At the Pune University track, too, they have so many restrictions. If the event shifts to Ratnagiri, we will face another challenge as there will be no arrangements for steeplechase and pole vault. These two events will have to be held elsewhere.
Don’t you think it is a little risky for athletes, who are accustomed to synthetic tracks, to run on a mud track?
There are some places in Maharashtra where kids don’t even have a track to practice on, yet they are training with whatever facilities they have available. We should not exclusively consider cities like Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur and Nashik. We should also think about what happens in Chandrapur, Gadchiroli and Beed. In some of these places, the athletes don’t even have a normal mud track and still they participate, and they win too. Even last year, we hosted this tournament on a mud track in Nagpur. According to me, state meets should travel all over Maharashtra, and it should not be restricted to only five districts where the facility is excellent.
Why didn’t any of the districts come forward to host this tournament?
The MAA sits with all the district athletics authorities at the start of every season and together we decide which events will happen where. We ask these districts to volunteer for the tournaments they want to host. There were no volunteers who came forward to host this state-level selection tournament and that is why we kept the senior state selection in Mumbai and the other one in Sangli. We had no accommodation facilities in Mumbai, but we had to do it there, because there was no alternative as no other district came forward.
Why are these district athletics associations hesitating to volunteer?
It’s due to lack of funds. To generate funds, they should have a source, but unfortunately they don’t, due to which they cannot afford to host tournaments. The other reason is because of the damage caused to the tracks. They cannot risk volunteering for a tournament if their equipment and tracks are damaged.
Does the MAA have no authority to command these district associations to host a tournament?
We can ask them to host a tournament, but if they don’t do it, what can we do? They say that they are not in the position to host a tournament We cannot force anybody. Hiring a track costs around ₹50,000 per day. Accommodation costs about ₹500 per room. The total cost soars way above their budget. It is their duty to come up with a fund generation system, only then, will it be possible for them to host multiple tournaments.
