With Indian coaches making their mark, foreign footprint in NSF's is reducing

Growing expectations and a result-oriented approach are making federations to bide their time.

A new Olympic cycle begins with most sports federations scurrying to hire foreign coaches but this time many major federations are treading cautiously. Ten months after India’s most successful Olympics (seven medals), disciplines like wrestling and boxing are yet to appoint any foreign coaches. Shooting has cleared rifle and pistol experts after much deliberation, and in badminton the elite national squads are being largely looked after by Indian coaches, while a few top players have personal foreign coaches.

Boxing generic image (Getty Images)

Growing expectations and a result-oriented approach are making federations to bide their time, rather than take hasty decisions. Much was expected from boxing and shooting at the Tokyo Olympics but while shooting drew a blank, boxing fetched only one medal with the men’s team performances coming under the scanner.

A section within some federations, especially in sports where Indian coaches have developed expertise, feel time has come to give more power to home trainers. Foreign coaches, they feel can play a more supportive role.

“We don’t want to rush and appoint foreign coaches,” says Boxing Federation of India secretary Hemanta Kalita. “We have to get the best coaches who can deliver at the top level and in the longer term. We are in the process of shortlisting candidates.”

High performance director Santiago Nieva drew some criticism for the performance of the men’s team. His contract was extended but he decided to quit last month. Women’s coach Raffaele Bergamasco was not given a fresh term. The elite men’s team is currently guided by Narender Rana, who has trained some top boxers as Services coach. The women’s team is overseen by Bhaskar Bhatt who has done commendable work with the youth team.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has appointed Munkhbayar Dorjsuren (pistol), an Olympics bronze medallist, and Thomas Karnick (rifle), six-time Olympian and world championships medallist. Besides, legendary Mark Russell (trap) and his wife Lauryn Mark (shotgun) have also been roped in. The Indian coaches were already announced.

“Foreign coaches will help us lay down a structure and they will be a support to our Indian coaches who are doing a very good job,” says NRAI secretary-general Kanwar Sultan Singh.

Former shooter Deepali Deshpande feels that Indian coaches now have the expertise and technical knowledge. “The requirements have changed. Now you don’t need a foreign coach to set up everything. Yes, they can always bring something different to the table that can be helpful,” says Deshpande who was till recently the high performance manager.

In badminton, the men’s team recently won the Thomas Cup title. Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand have already established a good coaching structure in their academies.

“The players still have a mindset that foreign coaches are needed but it is changing with times,” said BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra, who was also a former junior national coach. “We have got very good coaches at home who understand better the style of play suited to us, like our wristy skills that stand out in today’s rally-based game.”

In case of wrestling, the emergence of Olympic silver medallist Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia is enough for the federation to say no to foreign coaches. “We have evaluated the performances of coaches. We feel our own coaches can guide better. It is difficult to monitor training plans of foreign coaches,” said a WFI official.