The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Usha feels the strain

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Wednesday, Dec 22, 2010
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Usha feels the strain

A. Vinod

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Lack of adequate sponsorship support has left track queen, P.T. Usha to rework on her priorities in running the Usha School of Athletics.

“Frankly, it is a daunting task to seek support from the corporate sector and then train the athletes.

“We simply do not have the required funds to run the school even with a skeletal strength of just 18 athletes.

“And that is why we have not yet notified so far our selection process for the next year,” said Usha while talking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the 54th Kerala Schools athletics meet here on Tuesday.

Rising costs

“In fact, I would, as it is, like to bring down our present strength so as to ensure that the best of facilities are made available to the rest.

“When we started in 2002, the required amount for looking after every need of an athlete was worked at Rs. 1 lakh per year.

“With rising costs, this has shot up to Rs. 1.50 lakh, but we still get sponsorships only at the old rate and that too only for 13 athletes.”

People, she said, were not aware of the difficulties in running an academy properly. “The general feeling is that everything is fine with our school. But if you have to live up to the expectations you cannot go forward without sufficient financial support from the corporate sector.

“Athletics still is a second grade sport in our country even though our athletes have performed well over the years and more recently in both the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games,” Usha remarked unable to hide her disappointment.

Union govt. support

Usha, however, is keenly looking forward to the support promised by the Union government for laying a synthetic track at her school. “They have promised us to fund the project provided the State government recommended it.

“I met the Sports Minister (M. Vijayakumar) on Monday and he too has promised to take up the matter with the Union Sports Minister immediately. Hopefully, things would work out in our favour. All through this year, with rain persisting, it was a tough task to keep the mud track in good condition. We lost quite a few days of training.”

But Usha was quick to add: “However, thankfully, the results here have not been all that bad. Of course, I have always concentrated on our athletes putting up a quality display and I am fully satisfied with our medal count — three gold medals, one silver and two bronze from our contingent numbering eleven.

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