The two-day sports trials conducted for the Khelo India State Centre of Excellence concluded on Sunday with a low turnout. The trials were held for three disciplines — hockey, boxing and athletics.
Organised for Under-16 boys and girls, the trials began on Saturday and marked the first-ever selection process for the only such centre in Punjab. On the opening day, while 102 boys appeared for hockey trials, only 14 players participated in boxing and 18 in athletics. On the second day, the response among girls was even lower, with only 35 turning up for hockey and 12 each for boxing and athletics. Additionally, nine boys participated in athletics trials on Sunday.
The Centre has 15 seats each in all three sports disciplines for boys and girls, but in boxing (girls and boys) and athletics (girls), the number of participants was even lower that the number of available seats.
District Sports Officer Gurpreet Singh attributed the low participation to earlier selection trials conducted for the Punjab Institute of Sports (PIS), residential wings and day scholar programmes.
“Trials for PIS, residential wing and day scholar categories were already held months ago and many players were selected there. Also, since this is the first year of Khelo India trials at the centre, we expect much better participation next year as awareness grows,” he said.
The Centre of Excellence has already appointed a support staff, including a psychologist, nutritionist, physiotherapist, masseur, chief coaches and assistant coaches, to ensure scientific training and holistic athlete development. Selected athletes will be provided professional sports equipment, playing kits, boarding and lodging facilities at the centre.
