To match the regulations introduced by various national sports bodies and the Ministry of Sports in recent years, the UT Education Department is planning to ‘update’ their norms for conducting inter-school tournaments for various disciplines, particularly for individual sport.
The department is planning to introduce more events, weight categories and other norms. “We are in the process of upgrading norms, after getting demands from various sports bodies and for the ultimate benefit of players,” said Nitish Singla, Director School Education.
The inter-school championships are one of the most awaited events in Chandigarh, next to the tournaments conducted by the sports associations. Hundreds of players represent various schools in age groups, including under-14, under-17 and under-19. The top three winners (individual and teams) of these inter-school meets are also eligible for receiving state cash awards and gradation certificates for admissions.
The department, which hosts the tournament, has been conducting the events as per the existing norms and regulations adopted under the School Games Federation of India. It has now decided to conduct events in a more professional way, giving more opportunities to the players.
“We have been discussing the upgradation of norms for conducting the inter-school competitions with various stakeholders, and have prepared a draft. For instance, more weight categories has been proposed for various body contact games. Other proposal include duration of matches, adoption of new points’ system and marginal increase in the match fee for officials,” said a senior functionary of the department.
Last year, the Boxing Federation of India had adopted new weight classes. Recently, the Badminton Association of India changed the points’ system. Similarly, many other associations changed the criteria under which the games were conducted. When asked about the apprehensions of one-year capping on students inducted in government schools from private schools or outstation, the senior functionary added, “This is not true. As per rules, a student becomes a bonafide candidate on the very day of getting admission. We can’t ask players getting admissions (from private schools or outstations) to wait for one year before participating in an inter-school meet,” an official said.
