Respecting parents and remembering coaches from formative years are essential for sportspersons to climb the ladder of success, according to Indian hockey great Dhanraj Pillay.
He was addressing an assembly of Dronacharya and Arjuna award winners from the State on National Sports Day, the birth anniversary of legendary hockey wizard Dhyan Chand. The audience consisted of top coaches and players from the State who have been honoured with Dadoji Konddev and Shiv Chhatrapati awards, young achievers from the State government’s Krida Prabodhini project, and medal winners from the State at the Khelo India Youth Games.
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Pillay, a four-time Olympian and World Cupper, has himself been a recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Padma Shri. He said, “Sports teaches you to handle success and failure. Losing is as much a part of sport as winning. I would always speak to my mother after defeats. She gave me the courage to soldier on. She also enjoyed my success, like when we won gold at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games under my captaincy.” Pillay said he owed his achievements to coaches Joaquim Carvalho and Tony Fernandes. He said, “Do not forget those coaches who shaped you early in your career when you become famous.”
On the occasion, Ashish Shelar, State Minister for School Education, Sports and Youth Welfare, announced a ₹50-lakh grant to every sportsperson from the State who qualifies for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He said the government plans to upgrade facilities at the sports complex in Balewadi and another one in Aurangabad. Mr. Shelar said that sports infrastructure would be improved at the taluka level. He said the government is considering public-private partnership to develop infrastructure and training facilities in the State. Mr. Shelar said the passion to chase dreams in spite of adversity led to the emergence of sporting greats like Pillay from the State.
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Pillay spoke about the power of sports to change lives. He said, “I started playing with hockey sticks borrowed from friends as my family could not afford them. I did not have a house of my own in Mumbai and lived with my brother [Ramesh Pillay in RCF Colony in Chembur). The State government later presented me a house of my own [in Powai].”
Among dignitaries who graced the dias were Omprakash Bakoria, Commissioner of Directorate of Sports & Youth Services; Saurabh Vijay, Acting Secretary of School Education, Sports & Youth Welfare; and Namdev Shirgaonkar, Joint Secretary, Indian Olympic Association.