Sports
Jayachandran Harinarayan, gold medalist in sprint in 2004 SAF games, Islamabad, urges the respected games' boards to encourage young talent. He said that the concerned boards should help the country in finding and encouraging the young talents.
PEOPLE SAY, “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.” This saying is apt in the case of Jayachandran Harinarayan, the gold medalist in sprint in 2004 SAF games, Islamabad. He was not very notable in school level sports meets but his determination and his training under late Shaankaran (former Coimbatore district coach) paved the way for him to come back home in an impressive manner. His major achievements were winning gold medals in long jump and in 200mts running in 1992, All India Inter-varsity meet. He had also captained the Tamil Nadu athletics team in numerous occasions. Besides, he has won silver medal in Asian Grand Prix, Bangkok, 2004 and bronze in Asian Grand Prix, Philippines, 2004.
Currently, Jayachandran is working in Life Insurance Corporation’s Coimbatore branch. In an exclusive interview to CJ Govindan Nampoothiry K, Jayachandran shares his experiences and views.
Q: What do you feel about the relevance of sports in education?
Answer: As a sports person, I feel that we have to inculcate sports culture in our education system. Involvement in games, increases our memory power. So, youth should spend time both in sports and education.
Q: India is a country where young talents are recognised late. What’s your opinion?
A: Before answering that, I want to ask one question. How many people know Anand Devaraj, the world boxing champion who won bronze medal in 1995? At that time, The Hindu gave only one column news about him. If this situation has to improve the attitude of the media and the respected boards must change. They should help the country in finding and encouraging the young talents.
Q: How was the experience with the Shankaran?
A: I have been waiting for a long time to be his student. Our wave lengths were same and he taught me the importance of patience in the career of a sports person.
Q: Nowadays there is a trend to acquire foreign coaches in sports, especially in athletics. What do you think about it?
A: Instead of acquiring foreign coaches, we should adopt the foreign sport system, which gives importance to professionalism rather than reputation. In India, we see some kind of professionalism only in Cricket and Tennis. In the case of Cricket, BCCI has taken many innovative steps to market the game. For example, the latest Indian Premier League formation in 20-20 format. Though it was floated to counter attack Kapil Dev’s ICL, it’s good for the game. Like BCCI, other boards should also take pragmatic approach to imbibe the foreign style.
Q: Youth is very much confused about choosing a career in sports. What’s your advice to them?
A: Yes, it might be a tough decision to choose sports as a career as it takes a lot of time to settle and earn a name. My suggestion is that, they should give equal weightage to both career and sports. For instance, if you win a medal in the Olympics, the public and the media will notice and if not, you will be recognised just as a sports person. One has to tackle this situation. In brief, I would say that the youngsters should balance both sports and career properly.
Q: What about the support from family and office?
A: I am supported tremendously by my family and my office staff. Their prayers keep me determined to achieve new targets.
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