The right break at the right age

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Do you know what my favourite part of the game is?” Mike Singletary, former American footballer asked, then with a gentle smile he gave the answer: “The opportunity to play.”

The smile on the faces of 30 children looking up to Roy John, athletic coach of the Government Physical Education College (GPEC) in Kozhikode, is in gratitude for giving them the opportunity when the sports hostels were closed, the kids look back at a summer camp organised by Kozhikode district sports council and the Athletic Association.

The end of the 15-day camp meant that these spirited kids needed to warm down and wait. At that juncture, Roy came up with the idea of training the children by making use of the college facilities.
Since April 25, the NIS qualified Roy has been imparting his athletic skills to children between 10 and 14 years, mostly from the outskirts of the district such as Balussery, Koyilandi and Meppayur.

“During the summer camp, I realised that most of the children are eager to learn and from my experience, I very well know that if they do not get the right training, all talent will only go down the gutter,” said Roy.

His initiative paved way for the opportunity that did not exist otherwise for the children to venture boldly into the world of athletics.

“The children are of the right age to begin training and I have started the camp by teaching them the basics. It they remain committed, I can assure that nothing can stand in their way of achieving successful athletic careers,” he says.

“The aim of my training is to create an opportunity for those who are deprived of better facilities. These children would have otherwise learnt wrong techniques on their own and that could have possibly ruined their chances of becoming a good athlete,” explained Roy, who is also an assistant professor at GPEC.

The daily training is for two hours (4.30 to 6.30 pm) after school and I have made arrangements for three children who hail from the interior of the district to be given admission to a higher secondary school adjacent to GPEC.

“I get inspired seeing the children’s spirits. The children are thrilled about the training and are producing good results. But I feel most of them need more time until they can specialise on a single field of their choice. So, this will be a continuous process.” says the coach.
He wants to form an academy where more rural kids can take their first steps toward what could be the making of yet another P.T. Usha, Mercy Kuttan, Suresh Babu or T.C. Yohannan.