Kerala has won the National School Athletics meet championship yet
again. The meet was held between January 07th - 11th
2008.
This time the entire credit of Kerala’s victory
should go to the students alone. Despite all the
inconvenience, the hardworking Kerala teens excelled in the
meet. Climate was not good; stadium was just a coal land with
hard stones and sand. But the spirit, ambition and team work
lead to a unique success.
Kerala has been conquering the athletics crown
for the last 11 years. Kerala won 27 gold, 20 silver, and 18
bronze medals all together securing 259 points.
But this is one side of the victory. Still
there are some sharp pointers that should be evaluated by the
sports council and the government. We did not have more
talented ones in sprints as successors of sprint queen P.T.
Usha, Shiny Wilson etc.
Another issue the government is not taking
seriously is setting up a professional sports structure. There
have been no follow-up actions to look after the talented
stars of School meet in the College level competition and
afterwards.
Apart from this, Kerala couldn't score as much
as last year. Kerala lost 100 medals than last meet. The
shortage in medal hunt also is the weakness of Kerala team.
Sports authorities should evaluate this and take corrective
measures.
