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He's looking at the basics
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Shivakumar has moved from mechanical engineering to badminton. And he's doing a fine job coaching youngsters
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Photo: K. Gopinathan
IN A crowd that swears by specialisation and providing cutting edge to young talent, it is refreshing to find someone who concentrates on encouraging players at the grass root.
The Badminton coach, G. Shivakumar is among those few who prefer to train youngsters right from scratch. "It is something that I have truly believed from the day I became a coach. My aim is to train a youngster in the basics of the game and then I allow him or her to make a conscious choice, whether they wish to make badminton as a career or purely treat as a it as a hobby. It is for them to decide the future course."
Career shift
Shivakumar himself was a late bloomer and took up the game as an engineering student. After he had played at the competitive level for a few years, he turned a part-time coach.
He found quick success when one of his wards, Pooja Patil, became the National Junior Girls' Champion in 1993-94. That triumph made Shivakumar shift his priorities. He began full-time coaching despite being a qualified Mechanical engineer.
The list of noted trainees grew. Reshma Pai, Shalini Prakash, Aditi Biswas and Anisha Premnath Utsav Prakash are among the few who made their mark at State-level tournaments. Though many moved to greener pastures for better training facilities, Shivakumar soldiers on training fresh batch of youngsters at the Koramangala Club and City Nest, Indiranagar.
On rolls, he has a promising set of youngsters such as Siddarth Srikanth, Sharan and Anisha Karumabhaiya. "They have good potential and if they persist with the game they are bound to make a mark," says Shivakumar.
The young coach feels that academics takes toll of promising players.
He explains why there are not enough players especially in women's section: "Badminton is an expensive game and not many would like to come forward and take it up. Even those who do drop out do so after initial promise because of academic pressure. They are more inclined to qualify professionally. This could be corrected if there is more emphasis on sports in our academic curriculum," says Shivkuamr.
Choice is theirs
At some point or the other, the players and their parents should decide which is more important for them — the game or an academic career. "Things have been looking up for badminton players and there are better employment opportunities. They should develop a determination to succeed," says Shivakumar.
Shivakumar has his own agenda for the development of the game. "Yes, I would like to contribute in a much more positive way. But I need a place of my own."
"I train at City Nest in Indiranagar and at the Koramangala Club. But the problem with clubs is that training timings get restricted because members would like to use the club facilities. So, there is urgency in my quest for setting up my own place that will have a couple of courts."
The coach already has a dedicated band of staff to help him out with his coaching schedule, and the former track queen Ashwini Nachappa helps out with physical workouts for children at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
Incidentally, her daughter, Anisha is a bright young ward of Shivakumar.
As a player, Shivakumar's career was short and he quit when he could have stayed on and won quite a few titles at the State-level.
But he chose to be a coach for pragmatic reasons. "If I had continued playing, I would have won a title or two, but as a coach I could mould a lot of winners."
That sure was a sensible move now that he has a quite a few champs on the wings.
KALYAN ASHOK
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