The Hindu : Front Page : Kerala retains overall title

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Monday, Jan 12, 2009
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Kerala retains overall title

Stan Rayan

12th consecutive win in National schools athletics championship

— Photo: VipinChandran

JUBILANT: The Kerala team which retained the overall team title in the 54th National schools athletics championship in Kochi on Sunday.

KOCHI: Kerala won the overall team title for the 12th consecutive year in the National schools athletics championship at the Maharaja’s Stadium here on Sunday. The host finished with 46 gold medals and 355 points, its best performance ever.

Several heads and hands are behind Kerala’s sweetest triumph in the athletics championship. Apart from major institutions such as Kothamangalam’s St. George School, Mar Basil Higher Secondary School, Kannur Sports Division and G.V. Raja Sports School, there are small centres like Palakkad’s Parli Higher Secondary School and the Kalladi HSS which have made Kerala the country’s champion in schools athletics for the 12th consecutive year.

This time, there were seven coaches with the 150-member team that virtually represented seven centres of power.

“Each coach virtually guided his own group of athletes, athletes he is familiar with,” said Raju Paul, coach of St. George HSS, Kerala’s champion school. “So there was no tinkering with techniques at the last minute.”

While the St. George school hunted for talent all over the State, the Parli school concentrated on the local talent and brought to the fore stars and multiple gold medallists like distance runner M.D. Thara and sprinter-hurdler P. Merlin.

“We change many lives by training these athletes. Many of them come from very poor families,” said V.G. Manoj, the Parli coach. At the Kalladi school, school manager Syed Ali virtually bankrolls the athletes’ training and other expenses from his own pocket.

The end result: Kerala finished with a record haul of 46 golds on Sunday, breaking its own record of 42 yellows which came three years ago. The State government was quick to honour its little stars. Education Minister M. A. Baby said the athletes would receive cash awards soon.

Kerala gives massive coverage both in the visual and print media to its annual State schools championship. “It is this media interest that has made Kerala such a dominant force in Indian athletics. Talent alone is not enough; the talent has to be talked about and nurtured through the years,” said Raju Paul. “Nobody bothers about schools meets in other States, even the schools nationals are dismissed in a paragraph or two.”

But not everybody is thrilled with the huge success.

“I am happy that we won 46 golds, but I am surprised that many of the athletes who came up with stunning timings here could not do the same at some of the recent meets like the Commonwealth Youth Games, the Junior Asian and the Junior World,” said P.T. Usha. “These timings would have fetched them medals at the recent Youth Commonwealth in Pune and the Asian meet which is surely a bigger thing than this meet.”

Usha, now a very respected coach, was also very surprised with the sudden improvement in the athletes’ performance. “When athletes who were doing mediocre timing at national trials a few months back, suddenly improve by a big margin, it makes you suspect that things are not very clean,” she said, throwing a few hints.

“Also, I think we need to time the schools championship before major national championships. I have a feeling that coaches train the athletes to peak at the State and National schools championship. That should not be the case,” said Usha.

VS congratulates team

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has congratulated the Kerala team.

In a message, he said the win was a result of team effort and hard work.

Sports Minister M. Vijayakumar lauded the efforts of the team in retaining the title.

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