New Delhi, March 14 (IANS) Former Union Sports Minister and Member of Parliament (MP) Anurag Singh Thakur said there should be efforts made to ensure former athletes are brought back into the Indian sporting ecosystem as coaches and mentors, adding that the country is wasting a valuable resource by leaving experienced ex-players in administrative office roles.

Thakur made the call while addressing sports journalists on day two of the Golden Jubilee National Convention of the Sports Journalists Federation of India (SJFI) at the Constitution Club of India – an event hosted by the Delhi Sports Journalist Association (DSJA).

“Many players who got jobs through sports are now working in offices, while many of them could be involved with the game again as coaches or mentors. They may contribute far more to sports in those roles,” he said.

Thakur also pressed for a data-driven approach to athlete development that would allow talent to be identified and nurtured from the earliest stages of a sporting career. “We need to analyse data and create a proper tracking system for the entire journey of an athlete so that talent can be identified early and groomed with the right support,” he said.

Thakur also called on the state governments to shoulder greater responsibility for building the infrastructure and human resources that India’s sporting ambitions require. “Sports is largely a state subject, and states must increase their budgets, build infrastructure, and hire more coaches if we want better results in the future,” he said.

On institutional accountability, Thakur insisted that policy recommendations must translate into measurable outcomes. “Institutions are very important. We must evaluate what has been achieved after recommendations are made and assess whether our systems are actually producing results,” he said.

DSJA president Abhishek Tripathi underlined the significance of the occasion for the federation and the broader sports journalism community. “It is a proud moment as the SJFI celebrates its Golden Jubilee. We are delighted to welcome sports journalists from across the country to Delhi and grateful to Anurag Thakur ji for interacting with the fraternity,” he said.

Several figures from the sports and corporate world were felicitated during the day’s proceedings – like Shivalika Chadha Malik of Hero MotoCorp, Manva Sudarshan Hunswadkar of KRAFTON India, and Udita Dutta, founder and CEO of Artsmith, in recognition of their contributions to the sporting ecosystem.

On the field, the JK Bose Inter-Zonal T20 Cricket Trophy saw North Zone and South Zone record convincing victories at Roshanara Cricket Club and the Delhi Police Ground, respectively.

In the AC Bali Table Tennis Tournament, DSJA-1 and the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai (SJAM-1) advanced to Monday’s final, where DSJA-1’s trio of Kushan Sarkar, Bharat Sharma, and Norris Pritam will face SJAM-1’s Amol Karhadkar, Ashwin Ferro, and Akush Dhavre.

–IANS

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