Hyderabad, July 27: The water sports in the country seems to be functioning on two schools of thought, one that believes in bringing a foreign hand to help it sail smoothly whilst the other stands firm in giving indigenous hands a free run.
While the Indian sailing squad has a foreign coach in the form of Englishman Peter Conway, the rowing team believes that Indian coaches are equally competent to do the job if not more. “I completely believe that Indian coaches are the best bet if the team has to perform up to its potential. No foreign coaches for me,” said Col C.P. Singh Deo, president, Rowing Federation of India in a chat with this newspaper.
His reason seems to be simple. “Only an Indian can understand the psyche of the Indian players and it’s a vital component to help bag medals in big events involving many nations such as the Asian Games,” he says.
However, the Yachting Association of India does not seem to share the same logic. Speaking on the appointment of Peter as the coach of the sailing team, ace sailor Rajesh Choudhary feels, “He has just come in and it will be not fair on anyone’s part to pass a judgement. Every coach be it an Indian or a foreign coach brings with him certain amount expertise and if it gels well with a team goal, then the results too will be fruitful.”
On his part, Peter is only concerned on the job at hand. While the argument is a never-ending one, all one can say is that the phrase “to each his own” fits this scenario perfectly.