The sports talent search programme using scientific methodology, a unique initiative of the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES), will be held at Chamundi Vihar Stadium in Mysuru on March 25 and 26.
The programme conducted on the basis of scientific parameters including strength, endurance, mobility, motor capacity and speed will be held using various equipment and gadgets. It is aimed at creating a pool of talent from grassroots across different districts of the State. The sportspersons with promise, who are identified under the programme, will be brought under a Long Term Athlete Development programme with complete sports science support.
More than 40 officials and personnel from the Centre for Sports Science, Bengaluru, which is part of the DYES, will camp at Chamundi Vihar Stadium in Mysuru for two days, carrying out a battery of tests on the budding sportspersons aged between 8 and 15 years in all categories.
Boys and girls practising different sports disciplines such as athletics, swimming, fencing, wrestling, archery, badminton, cycling, rowing, kayaking, canoeing, weightlifting, sport climbing, golf, skate boarding, taekwondo, judo, gymnastics, diving and shooting will be taking part in the programme.
Speaking to The Hindu, Director of Centre for Sports Science, Bengaluru, Antony Chacko, said the heads and managements of schools and other educational institutions in Mysuru had already been informed through the DYES and Department of Education officials to send their top two to three students, who are excelling in any field of sports, for the programme.
After they undergo the tests, the results are analysed for various parameters to study their physical suitability for various sports disciplines before enrolling them for the long-term athlete development programme.
Mr. Chacko said the Centre is going around the State tapping raw talent from the grassroots. Most of the sports teams representing the State comprise sportspersons from Bengaluru. “There is hardly any representation from the grassroots. So, this exercise,” he said.
The Centre for Sports Science, Bengaluru, which came into existence in September 2020, has already carried out such talent search programmes in KGF, Kolar, Bangarpet, Karwar, Haliyal, Yellapur, Raichur and Yadgir. After finishing the programme in Mysuru, the team is scheduled to move to Madikeri and nopikoppa before proceeding to Udupi, Mr. Chacko said.
Sports journalist C.K. Muralidharan said the exercise will help identify sporting talent early so that the boys and girls can be advised to choose the sporting activity in which they have inherent talent.
Various physical attributes such as lower/upper limb strength, lower limb strength, standing mobility, and hip mobility will be tested scientifically during the programme, he said.
