Ailing athletes

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Paradoxical could be the right adjective to mark the State government’s policy towards Athletics.

When the sports minister moots high-end plans to train athletes abroad and woo famed foreign coaches to the State, a bunch of sprouting athletes in the state are throwing their hands up.

They would not be able to participate in the inter-zone athletic championship in Pune from September 22 to 24, due to monetary problems.

Of the 112 athletes qualified from the recently held South Zone Championship, only 30 players have registered their name with the athletic federation. The team is scheduled to leave Kochi on September 19.

The State government supports athletes in only five meets — South Zone Championship, National junior, youth and senior championships, and cross country.

“For the other championship, the athletic federation should find sponsors and send the athletes. Most of the times, athletes decline to participate due to lack of monetary help,” says an official from athletic federation.

“We cannot understand why the state government has problem funding the athletes participating in the inter zone while it is giving all the help to the players who are participating in the south zone,” the official said.

Another major problem is the clash of dates between the federation calendar and school games. It is learnt that most of the players are getting prepared for the sub-district and district school meets.

“The players would obviously try to give more importance to the district-level school games, when there is no aid from the State government,” said the official.

The lack of participation of the players from Kerala has come as a boon to other states. “The teams from Tamil Nadu and Haryana are making strides in these championships for the last few years.

Other States are taking these opportunities to give more exposure to the young athletes while we are backing out,” the official added.