A punishment posting has proved quite rewarding. When NIS, Patiala’s football coach Dr SS Chawla got a transfer order to Kurali, a remote suburb near Chandigarh, disgusted with what he calls ‘‘office politics’’, he thought of quitting. But fortunately for Kurali he didn’t take the easy option and took it up as a challenge. Call it coincidence or the fact that sporting success was somehow fated for this town, Chawla and his athletics’ coach wife Usha were followed by another ‘coach couple’. Family circumstances forced weightlifter Devinder Sharma and hockey Olympian wife Nisha to shift here. Suddenly for Kurali’s traditional sporting talent, which over the years had mostly gone untapped, expert guidance was now available in their backyard. The mix of talent and expertise has seen a big change in the sporting scenario here. Two years after the couples silently set up camp here, it is difficult to miss their influence in the region. The usual sight in the streets here is of kids carrying hockey sticks, or track-suited boys kicking footballs. A sports centre, a football academy, involvement of two major schools and, of course, those four national coaches has meant that for about 500 school and college students here, sports has become serious business. But this isn’t just a story about an initiative and the overwhelming response it received, but also about some amazing results. Dr Chawla, who started the Mehar Football Academy here, has a long list of star students. ‘‘Last year in the state under-19 junior team there were nine boys from this academy,’’ he says proudly. ‘People did not take me seriously when I told them they should send their children for sports. Parents and school teachers told me it was a waste of time’ If that doesn’t impress one, he talks about the big league. ‘‘We have produced many national players. Our boy Gurjinder Singh is with Salgaocar Club, Dharminder Singh Dhamma plays for BSF and Jaspreet turns out for Churchill Brothers,’’ he says. But all this has come after what Chawla calls a ‘‘very tough time’’. Adaptability and acceptability were the early hurdles he encountered. ‘‘People did not take me seriously when I told them to send their children for sports. Parents and school teachers told me how this will waste their time,’’ he says. But gradually things changed and so did the tone of the parents and teachers. Says Chawla with a smile: ‘‘They now talk about how sports activities channelise the students’ energies.’’ So what is the secret of their success? Hockey coach Nisha Sharma has an answer: ‘‘Like in any sport on the field this too involves team effort.’’ In a modest way she underplays the role of the coaches and talks about the co-operation of Chakwal National Senior Secondary School and Khalsa Senior Secondary School. ‘‘The schools not only released their students but provided the infrastructure and playgrounds. Besides, the government too chipped in,’’ she says. But there are people who appreciate the work done by these coaches. ‘‘We owe them our gratitude. They are doing a great job in moulding our students to excel on the sporting fields,’’ says SN Verma, principal, Chakwal National Senior Secondary School. Nisha’s husband Devinder too has a lot many things to talk about after being here. ‘‘Last year one of my trainees — Balbir Kaur — won the junior state weightlifting championship. She also secured second position in the All India Rural Sports tournament,’’ he says. Devinder also adds that since it requires about three to five years to train a good lifter there are potential stars training under him who can make it big in the future.
