New Delhi: National badminton coach Pullela Gopichand feels that current generation of Indian athletes are lucky as they no longer have to worry about the basic facilities that he had to struggle for in his playing days.
“All my life I have struggled to get basic sports facilities. I am glad today’s generation doesn’t have to struggle for this. Sports today has great future,” Gopichand said Wednesday at an event hosted by Andhra Pradesh government.
“We need to ensure that kids taking sports need to be incentivised so that they can lead good life. Kids need to learn discipline and sports is fundamental for this.
“It is not necessary to create champions, but to create environment where everyone enjoy sports. Remember sports increases a nation’s happiness index and improves quality of life,” Gopi added.
Gopi has earlier stated that the country lacks good badminton coaches, and there is increasing need of competent coaches in the country.
“Most importantly we don’t have a system in place that can produce good badminton coaches in India. Building infrastructure is the easiest part of the entire process, but to find committed and motivated people who can work over a period of time for the greater good of the sport is the tough job,” Gopi stated.
“The bizarre thing about sports in India is that we don’t have a proper roadmap. Our coaches are mediocre and this is the high time we need to think about them.”
