‘Players will not get marks if all India varsity games do not happen’
   Date :03-Apr-2020

Dr Sharad Suryawanshi_1&
 
 
By Anupam Soni :
 
We have already started planning for next year. In regular practice, our session starts in September but it will happen only if this situation improves. If it does not, there will also be huge impact on start of the new season. — Dr Suryawanshi
 
 
THE Government of Maharashtra has put off all exams for kids up to class eight and they will make it to next grade automatically. But there has been no such decision on students of junior and senior colleges. In absence of sports events due to lockdown, lack of sports marks might dent future of many sportspersons who are hugely benefited from these grace marks. “Most of the inter-university tournaments are over but for some events, about five of those, are still pending. We still don’t know if the all India university tournaments for these sports will happen or not. We don’t know whether matches will be conducted or not as the financial year has also ended.
 
Our tournaments (inter-college meet) are over and the teams have been selected but whether they will go or not nobody is sure. If the players miss the tourney they will not get marks and this will be a huge loss to them,” said Dr Sharad Suryawanshi, Director, Sports and Physical Education Department, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, who is working from home, while talking to ‘The Hitavada’. Presently the lockdown is supposed to continue till April 14 but nobody is sure about what will happen next. “The lockdown will have a huge bearing on rescheduling the events. It will be a big problem for all of us. We have already started planning for next year. In regular practice, our session starts in September but it will happen only if this situation improves. If it does not, there will also be huge impact on start of the new season,” Suryawanshi said.
 
An ace athlete during his competing days, Suryawanshi, who has seen things from close quarters including hosting of events, wants some guideline to be in place for safety of the players. “In sporting events, generally there is gathering of huge crowd and there must be some guidelines as we have for toilets and bathrooms during hosting of any event. “We have got good facility in MLA Hostel but there are many centres which do not have proper lodging and boarding arrangements. They arrange temporary facilities in rooms of schools and colleges by putting mats on the floor with 20-30 players sharing one small place. We never know when this type of epidemic can recur and there must be precautions taken. “There must be some rules as to how many players may be put in one room of what size and how much distance should be there in between two mats. Players come from all over the country in inter-varsity tourneys, so it is very important to put them separately,” said Suryawanshi.
 
On what suggestion he would like to give and implement on his own in this regard, Suryawanshi said, “We will definitely do one thing from next season. Along with the drinking water (cans) for the players, we will also start keeping sanitisers. “Players share the same ball, have sweat and mud all over them so this sanitising will be of good help. We will continue with it irrespective of whether there is any outbreak of any disease or not. “Sanitisers will also be a part of our medical kits. In toilets too, we use have soaps but no sanitisers. We will pay special attention that sanitisers are also placed in toilets in future. “We will also maintain distance between mats of players who share rooms.
 
This may lead to increase in number of rooms but at least the players will be safe.” On his message to the sportspersons in difficult times when there are no sporting activities going on, Suryawanshi said, “It is very important to stay fit and being positive during this period. The players must keep themselves busy with whatever physical activity is possible.”