Pandemic pushes small-time sports coaches over the edge

Many of the small-time coaches are jobless because of the closure of sports camps and academies

Hyderabad: The death of a Gymnastic coach is a stark reality of how the lockdown and Covid-19 has played havoc with sports camps and academies in the City in the last one year. Many of the camps and academies had to face a forced closure because of the rise in the Covid-19 cases and the subsequent lockdown. The small-time coaches are the most affected lot and have been hit hard. They are jobless and are desperately seeking alternate livelihood.

DRC Kiron, an ITF coach instructor, said it is hard times for the coaches as sports camps and academies have been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. “There are about 150 tennis centres in the city and out of 90-odd coaches there are 60 part-time coaches. It was a good livelihood for them. They would earn around 15,000 to 20,000 per month.

According to Kiron, there was a beehive of activity. “It was all fine up to March last year before the Covid-19 pandemic took a toll as most of the camps and academies had to be closed gradually. When some of them were opened in November there was thin attendance but there were revival of hopes in January before the second wave of Covid-19 in April forced another closure. The Tennis centres are struggling financially as it is hard to maintain the courts,’’ said Kiron.

Badminton coach Goverdhan echoed the same feeling. “Badminton is one of the popular sports of the city thanks to the achievements of Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and others. Many of the youngsters took a liking to the game and since 2013 there has been a phenomenal growth of the game. A good number of indoor badminton centres, close to 150, came up in and around the city where it was full of activity. Most of the centres hired these part-time coaches and sparring partners. Even as the centres were recovering from the first wave, the second wave blew them away literally. In fact, these small-time coaches are massively affected by the closures of the educational institutions. This is a big setback to them,’’ he said.
Former national coach Bhaskar Babu, who has an academy in MLRIT campus, said those staying in the campus are practicing in the court. “Most of them are at the camp here and are from outside Hyderabad. We are not allowing any outsiders. We are strictly following the Covid-19 procedures. The small-time coaches are the biggest casualties,’’ he said.

The situation is getting from bad to worse, says former Hyderabad Ranji opener Daniel Manohar. “The parents are scared to send their children and there are hardly any players at the camp. Some of them are closed. There are close to 200 cricket camps in the city. It is sad,’’ he said.

Mohd Iqbal said cricket was easily one of the busy sports centres, particularly during summer holidays. “Now the camps wear a deserted look with these small-time coaches being thrown out of the job. We managed to keep a few coaches with reduced salaries.’’

In fact, former GHMC Sports Director Prem Raj, said the summer camps gave employment to aspiring coaches. “These small-time coaches benefited hugely in the GHMC summer camps but since last year there have been no camps and these coaches have been hit hard,’’ he said,
Norman Isaac, secretary of Telangana Basketball Association, said these closures have sounded a death-knell to these coaches. “Some of the associations are cash-strapped and are helpless.’’

However Nagender Reddy said in a way many table tennis centres have managed to hold camps with all Covid-19 protocols being followed in the stipulated time in the morning. “This is helping these coaches.’’

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