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Athletics
By V.V. Subrahmanyam
The programme called `Athletics World Plan' began two months ago and will culminate during the IAAF Congress in Paris at the World athletic championship where the entire feedback will be debated and the necessary follow-up action initiated. Giving details of the programme, Mr. Stuart Snowden, Senior Consultant, informed that the primary objectives included the viability of launching a massive training-cum-competition schedule at the school level, the role of sponsors and how best to lure them to the sport, the role of media in popularising the sport and also in increasing the level of administrative skills. "One of the reasons why FIFA and ICC are successful is not just because of the popularity of the sport in a particular continent but also because of the highly successful public relations wings,'' he pointed out. Mr. Stuart revealed that his agency was keen that some of the big names in athletics should attend these seminars in order to provide invaluable inputs. "The best way to improve the quality of sport is to have more and more competition at the continental level.'' he added. Another suggestion was to have more age-group meets at the Continental and World levels to give talented youngsters the right break. The agency is scheduled to hold its next seminar in Melbourne on Saturday this week for the Oceania region and the next one in Ecuador next Friday for the South American Federations. This project is part of the larger vision of the IAAF to play a more pro-active role in the administration of sport and to give it a totally new look by 2012 when it is set to celebrate its centenary. These meetings are essentially aimed at providing an opportunity for each national federation to present its case for the all-round improvement of athletics. A questionnaire with emphasis on the popularity of athletics, the facilities that are needed, the support required on specific subjects, effective plan of action, how to attract youngsters to athletics, the commercial aspects of organising the big meets and also the likely returns for the performing athletes, will also be handed out. Mr. Stuart says that the effort was primarily aimed to shift the focus from the mere technicalities in organising the events but to take care of the entertainment factor for the spectators. "The whole concept can revolve on combining soft music and competition for better spectator value,'' he said. Until the 2000 Sydney Olympics, music rarely played a big role in athletics. Now, many Federations have suggested the playing of soft music during middle-distance events and are having more video boards and lively commentary during the breaks between competitions in order to make the sport more spectator-friendly. The IAAF has also given clear guidelines to the consulting agency to find out the ways and means to develop full-time quality coaches. The agency is also looking for an effective link through different `athletic cultures'. For instance, Japan is known for marathon specialists, the Russian countries for the throw and pole vault events, and some other nations for sprinters. "The programme basically aims to combine all these essential ingredients to make Asia a more powerful athletics centre by ideal back-up programmes,'' Mr. Stuart informed. Apparently, the consulting agency has already realised the plain truth that the feedback and the back-up programmes cannot be Continental-specific and the IAAF has to do a difficult balancing act if it is to do justice to its 210 member nations. That's the reason why the focus is not only on providing infrastructure to the athletes but also on getting quality coaches. Whether the necessary plan of action will follow or not after the IAAF Congress in Paris this August, only time will tell.
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