Sports Authority of India (SAI) Established 10 Regional Centres and 2 Institutional Units for Promotion and Development of Sports in India: Anurag Thakur
10 August 2023: Sports Authority of India (SAI) has established 10 Regional Centres and 2 Institutional Units in various parts of the country. The functions of these centres are, to implement and monitor the sports promotional schemes of SAI and Government of India, to conduct coaching camps and to assist the national teams for participation in international competitions by providing them with requisite state of the art infrastructure, equipment, coaching facilities and competition exposure, boarding and lodging to the selected trainees, scientific training/ equipment support, to provide scientific back-up to sportspersons to deliver high level performance in sports, to plan, construct, acquire, develop, manage, maintain and utilize sports infrastructure and facilities in the region, to liaise with other organizations/ sports bodies, State Govt./ UT Administration and act as an interface between Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and respective State Governments, and to conduct Certificate, Skill Development, Diploma, Graduation and PG Level courses in Coaching/Physical Education in collaboration with the Academic Wing of SAI at NSNIS Patiala & LNCPE Trivandrum.
The decision regarding creation of facilities/SAI centres depends on various factors, such as suitable proposals received from the State Governments, availability of funds, local demand, etc. Further, as a part of its restructuring exercise, SAI has carried out a review of its existing sports promotional schemes. In view of the available sports infrastructure and financial constraints, it has been decided to focus primarily on the existing centres with a view to achieve excellence.
Sports Authority of India (SAI) implements following Sports Promotional Schemes across the country to identify talented sportspersons in various age groups and nurture them to excel at national and international level:
– National Centres of Excellence (NCOE)
– SAI Training Centre (STC)
– Extension Centre of STC
– National Sports Talent Contest (NSTC)
A total of 187 Centres, including NCOEs, STCs, Extension Centres, etc. are functional in the country for implementation of these schemes. Presently, 7,780 talented sports persons are being trained in 34 sports disciplines on residential and non-residential basis.
Further, the Government has launched the Khelo India Programme with twin objectives of mass participation and the promotion of excellence in sports. Various programmes have been launched under this scheme to promote sports and improve the level of sports and infrastructural facilities, including stadiums, playing fields, tracks and sports training centres across the country.
31 Khelo India State Centres of Excellence and 960 Khelo India Centres are being supported under the scheme. 267 Academies have been accredited under the scheme. 2510 athletes in 21 sports disciplines (including Para sports) have been identified as Khelo India Athletes (KIA).
