CHENNAI: Even as the world was gearing up to enter the New Year, over four dozen coaches working with various National Centres of Excellence (NCOE) of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) across the country got pink slips. Those include reputed coaches, who had been honoured with Dronacharya Awards in the past.
What's more pitiable is these coaches were not even given a week before ending their contracts. A few of them, who are the sole earning member of their respective families, are now struggling to make ends meet with no immediate relief in sight.
Sources in SAI however felt that the coaches knew their contracts were ending on that particular date. The coaches felt it was harsh as contracts usually get renewed automatically and if it was not getting renewed, they should have been given some time.
"It doesn't even look like a formal letter. They just typed termination of our services on an A4 letter bearing the signature of the Chief Executive Officer of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). They even got his designation wrong while writing the full form as they wrote chief operating officer with CEO in the bracket," one of the coaches, whose contract was not renewed, told this daily on condition of anonymity.
The coach is now urgently looking for a job but couldn't land one in the past month. "I have approached a few centres but they don't have vacancies at the moment. Had they given us a notice period, we would have found alternatives. However, now I am not getting a monthly salary to pay my EMIs and it's getting difficult with each passing day," the coach rued.
Another coach, who could have joined one of the country's reputed sports centres a few months back but preferred to stay back with the NCOE, is now repenting his decision. "They praised my work but that doesn't matter. What matters is that I am jobless now. The letter does request me to check their official website for future vacancies but how it can be of immediate help to me," said the coach. Even insiders in SAI said that they can re-apply as and when the advertisement is released.
The decision to end their contract was delivered through the regional directors of their respective NCOEs. "The letter doesn't mention it but our regional director told us that the SAI is formulating a policy and will soon announce vacancies. However, it was learnt that the SAI will prefer those coaches who hold a diploma in coaching from the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, another SAI centre," said the coach.
All the coaches this daily spoke to were recruited by the SAI on recommendation from their respective National Sports Federations (NSFs) or through the TOPS.
The coaches approached their respective NSFs which in turn urged the SAI to extend their contracts. Unfortunately, the federations haven't received the reply yet. "Even our NSF can't do anything at the moment. They wrote to SAI but the response is still awaited. As far as a job in the domain of coaching is concerned, SAI is the biggest employer in the country. We can't afford to be in its bad books. We will reapply, once the vacancies are announced but even then those, who don't possess the NIS diploma would have a slim chance," signed off the coach.
Some say it is a procedural issue and the coaches can re-apply. However, the entire procedure usually takes two-three months. While a few got lucky as they were absorbed in other programmes. It needs to be seen if the same set of coaches will be accommodated in SAI through a process of interview and selection.