Vijayapura: Regretting that of the 5361 pre-university colleges of the State, only 461 colleges have Physical Education teachers, MLC S. V. Sankanur has said that one could easily imagine the State of affairs of sports in the State based on this data.
Speaking at the inauguration of State level Kho-Kho tournament organised by the PU Department in Association of S. S. P U College on Wednesday November 9, he said that of the total 1203 Government PU Colleges, only one college has a full-time Physical Education teacher. “This is a clear picture of the status of sports and the importance we are giving to sports. In such a situation, how can we expect our athletes to perform well and win more medals in international events such as Olympics,” he said.
Asserting that India does not have any dearth of talent, however in the absence of proper trainers, facilities and encouragement, it is not possible to groom sports persons and athletes in India.
He said that while smaller countries perform well in the Olympics by winning dozens of medals, India wins only a few medals.
“We have to reach a stage where we should come at least among the top ten highest medal-winning countries in the world in Olympics,” he said.
In his address, MLC Sunilgouda Patil briefed about the history of Kho-Kho and how it started in the country. He said that the BLDE Association, of which S. S. P. U College is part of, and has opened a sports academy to encourage the students to adopt sports as their careers.
“We have been holding various sports events and giving training to the students to achieve their goals,” he said.
Earlier, MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal regretted that India is giving more importance to foreign sports like Cricket and not much significance is given to domestic sports such as Kho-Kho and Kabaddi.
Expressing dismay over many students and parents not giving any emphasis to sports and concentrating only on academic activities, Yatnal said that sports is also vital for better mental and physical health.
He appealed to the students to spare time by participating in sports activities also.
