CHENNAI: The J Jayalalithaa senior national judo championships are set to start at the JN Indoor Stadium here on Sunday and Tamil Nadu Judo Association (TNJA) president Vijay Muralimohan said that a long-term plan was in the pipeline to help spread awareness about the sport.
“We need to gain some traction for the sport in the nation. For that, I have put forward a plan that could not only help judo get some eyeballs but provide employment and help us understand the technical aspects of the sport. The programme involves scouting talented youngster using the various scouts across the state and then bringing them under one umbrella.
From there, we will keep track of all the events they participate in, and as a result, after a certain amount of tournaments that the athlete has taken part in, we will see where they have done well and where they haven’t. That will help us figure their strengths and weaknesses and understand where we can help the child develop.
“As a result, we will not only be creating a database of thousands of upcoming athletes but also be providing employment to the scouts and coaches who will be travelling across the state. After a point of time, I’m sure this programme will become streamline across sports,” Muralimohan told Express on Saturday.
But of more importance was the judo nationals, and Tamil Nadu state judo coach Uma Shankar said things have been put in place fort the event. “Accommodation and food have been arranged by the state federation and Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu.
We have asked for new mats from Kerala and they should be installed by the time the event starts on Monday. We’re expecting some excellent matches,” Shankar said.
Despite things seeming on track, there was some problem regarding accommodation for teams from outside. “In the beginning, it was decided that the stadium dorm rooms would be used to house some athletes. But just a week before the start, stadium accommodation facilities were changed to house footballers from the Khelo India tournament, which finished on Saturday.
But the TNJA president did well to arrange funds and ensure that athletes’ housing was taken care of and that the event could go ahead without any issues,” a source revealed.
It remains to be seen how good the event is organised over the next three days, but the start at least showed some positives.
raviiyer@indianexpress.com