With the coronavirus lockdown bringing the entire gamut of sports activities to a halt for over two months, various sports bodies and associations have come up with technological initiatives to connect with sports instructors with an aim to help them hone their skills and maintain resilience in these difficult times.
In the backdrop of the pandemic-induced gloomy scenario, the Archery Association of India (AAI) in association with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) recently introduced an online training programme for coaches to enhance their domain knowledge and upgrade their skills during the lockdown period.
Taking a cue from the online initiative, various sports associations have started motivating their members to make optimum use of the online platform to reinvigorate their skills and get ready for resuming their sporting pursuits after the end of the lockdown.
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The erstwhile Khammam district has carved a niche for itself in archery by producing several distinguished players like Gondhi Marappa, who took part in three international archery tournaments during the late 80s.
The district has emerged as a major training hub for archery over the years with the active support of the Bhadrachalam Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) and the government agencies concerned.
The Telangana Archery Association trained several budding archers mainly from the tribal areas helping them to excel in the traditional game at the State and national level in the past.
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Training facilities
Several coaches of the five archery training facilities in the old undivided Khammam district are keenly following the online training sessions being conducted by the AAI and SAI through a videoconferencing app, said noted archery instructor and retired sports officer, ITDA, P. Shankaraiah.
The course content of the online training programme encompasses an array of sports-related topics, including the fundamentals of archery, equipment, rules and training besides the sports psychology, he noted.
The online training programme will help the coaches enrich their knowledge base and improve their skills.
Waiting for reopening
The budding archers across the district are eagerly waiting for the resumption of the sports schools, archery coaching facilities after the end of the lockdown period, Mr. Shankaraiah said.
The online training programmes will augur well for the budding players in the near future, he hoped.