TAA has flowered into a fine school

WHAT BEGAN as a company's commitment to the tribals of Singhbhum district of Bihar, the Tata Archery Academy (TAA) has flowered into a fine school for training archers of international class and may one day produce an Olympic gold medallist in the near future. Since archery, an indigenous sport of the tribals and the company's works are located in East Singhbhum, it is only natural for the corporate giant to embark on a mission to spot budding talent among young archers in the area and elsewhere and nurture them to international standards. Added to the company's constant endeavour to develop and promote sports in the National interest, the TAA took off in grand style and promises to create torchbearers of excellence who will aim for the gold.

Inaugurated on October 4, 1996 by the managing director, Dr. Jamshed J. Irani, the TAA has come a long way sweeping medals in plenty in the National scene to emerge one of the best in India. At a time when archery is essentially a sport depending on government grants and support through the Sports Authority of India's (SAI) coaches and equipment, the TAA and the Prabhat Ashram Gurukul in Meerat (U.P.) have done well in their short existence.

The academy inducts boys and girls in the age group of 14 and 15 for a four year training course. Initially, it had 15 cadets but its present strength has gone up to 20 (14 boys and six girls). The cadets are 12 (11 boys and one girl) from Bihar (Singhbhum), three (two girls and a boy) from Nagaland, three (two girls and one boy) from Manipur and one each from Meghalaya (Shillong) and Assam.

After the cadets complete two years, a fresh batch is inducted and the cycle continues. After completion of four years, the cadets are awarded certificates at an appropriate convocation and fed into the mainstream. The academy is run as an activity of Tata Steel's Sports Department and is being administered by a board of management.

The academy is housed in the wing of the sports hostel at the JRD Tata Sports Complex. The cadets are provided with a balanced diet as prescribed by the medical panel and are closely monitored. The boys and girls are given educational and recreational facilities and have a fully planned out training schedule both for archery and physical growth. The cadets are provided with modern imported equipment.

The training programme includes practical and theory with physical training and commences with the traditional bow and arrows, graduating later to modern equipment. Plans are also on to provide the cadets with foreign exposure to sharpen their skills with latest training methods imparted abroad. The trainees are given thirty days vacation in a year and receive a monthly stipend.

The cadets of the TAA have made remarkable strides in the short period of four years. They won 19 (6 golds, 9 silvers and 4 bronze) medals in 1996-97, 50 (17-16-17) in 1997-98, 65 (28-16- 21) in 1998-99 and 17 in 1999-2000. This year also saw the academy winning two international silver medals through Chekrovolu Swuro in the individual as well as the team championship in the first Asian circuit meet held at Hua Mark Archery Range, Olympic Main Stadium, Bangkok in May 1999.

The boys and girls of the TAA have broken a number of National records and in the November senior National archery championship at Shillong, they accounted for four National marks and won seven golds, as many silvers and three bronze medals and won three team championships and two individual championships.

The first archery academy to be set up in the corporate sector, the stress at the TAA is not only to build champions but to develop the overall personality of an individual with a view to produce good citizens. The academy is headed by Olympian and Arjuna Awardee Sanjeeva Singh. He is assisted by former National champion Purnima Mahato and Dharmendra Tiwari. Another Olympian Limba Ram, who was on contract with the TAA, was offered to be a coach but he declined and left.

Singh, himself one of the country's leading archers during his halcyon days, introduced progressive thinking in training methods. He brought about a seachange in the outlook of the untrained, uneducated tribal children and stressed the importance of a goal or a target in ones life.

Apart from that the trainees are taught to take care of oneself, to be self reliant and to take decisions when need be. They are taught table manners, among other things.

``When I went to participate in international meets abroad, I found my teammates suffer from inferiority complex owing to lack of education as to how to stay in a five star hotel. The worse was they did not know table manners and I found for most of the time they went hungry unable to use the knife and fork,'' he recalls. ``Our academy boys and girls are well trained and can tackle any situation they may face in future,'' he says.

Singh feels the academy's recruitment policy as well as the trimming process are so strict that only the best will survive. ``We go deep into woods of the tribal area to scout for trainees and this takes about a fortnight to complete the entire process. We organise archery competitions for different age groups and select those who are good with the traditional equipment. Then they are brought to Jamshedpur and watched closely for a couple of months. Those who meet our demands are retained and the rest released.''

The academy has been scouting talent only in East and North-East India. ``After four years of monitoring the students from North- East, I found their general demeanor towards sport is easy going. Most of them are very serious during the selection trials. Once named in the Indian team, I find them more concerned about other activity rather than archery itself. If you look at their life style, you will realise these people are very easy going,'' he feels. ``Also the North-East boys and girls have arms shorter in length. This means they cannot extract maximum power while pulling the bow string,'' Singh reasons.

S. SABANAYAKAN

Calcutta

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Next     : A ballet dancer and a master of bluff