Union MoS Khadse reviews sports development in West Bengal, assures SAI support for grassroots pathways
Kolkata, Sep 17 (IANS) Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Raksha Khadse on Thursday visited the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Regional Centre in Salt Lake, Kolkata, where she reviewed sports infrastructure, athlete development programmes and support systems while interacting with coaches and athletes.
Khadse began her visit by paying floral tribute at the Netaji Subhash Bust before inspecting the hockey facilities. She interacted with trainees and coaches to understand their training requirements, the facilities available to them and their competitive needs.
The Minister subsequently visited the indoor gymnastics and table tennis facilities, where she interacted with athletes and coaching staff.
A key part of the visit was her interaction with the Sports Science Department. Khadse reviewed the role of sports science in athlete development, conditioning, recovery and performance enhancement, and stressed the need to integrate scientific support with coaching and regular competition exposure.
The interaction was attended by senior SAI officials, including SAI Kolkata Regional Director Sibananda Mishra, Olympians Soma Biswas and Poulami Ghatak, MY Bharat Regional Director Dev Kumar Chatterjee and members of the Indian women’s rugby team.
Khadse also inspected the newly developed 300-bed Khelo India hostel and reviewed the accommodation and support infrastructure being created for athletes.
She later visited the archery and athletics facilities, interacting with coaches and trainees and taking stock of their training requirements.
The Minister subsequently chaired a review meeting with SAI officials on the functioning of the Regional Centre, covering athlete development, infrastructure, coaching, sports science, and other support systems.
During the meeting, Khadse assured continued SAI support to strengthen grassroots sporting opportunities and create stronger pathways for young athletes to progress to higher levels of competition.
She also highlighted West Bengal’s established sporting culture and talent pool, stressing that access to quality infrastructure, scientific training, coaching and regular competition would be crucial to helping young athletes pursue sporting excellence.
–IANS
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