Former Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju set up Khelo India Centre of Excellence in rowing in Srinagar in 2021. With the rowing centre not functioning on expected lines, youngsters of the region are disappointed

Navneet Singh

A school going junior national bronze medallist in rowing, Irtiza Ali, has migrated to Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh from Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir) to avail better facilities. “I had no choice but to move to Bhopal to achieve my goal of wearing an Indian jersey in the future,” Ali told Sportsbackstory.com.

Ali, determined to make his mark, has shown maturity not to waste time and energy to convince officials and administrators to support the grassroots level athletes and help them lay a solid foundation.

Despite having meagre financial resources at his disposal, the youngster from Srinagar was courageous to embrace hardships and boarded a train to Bhopal. Ali, staying in a rented accommodation, prepares his own meals after practice at the Madhya Pradesh Government run rowing academy in Bhopal. “Moving to Bhopal has thrown new challenges,” Ali said. “As my goal is to wear an Indian jersey in the future, I’m ready to face the hardships.”

Seeing the potential for water sports, including rowing, in the Jammu & Kashmir region, former Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju had set up a Khelo India State Centre of Excellence in rowing at Srinagar’s Dal Lake in 2021. It was a good initiative as the main goal was to nurture local talent to excel at the global level. However, guidelines for smooth functioning of the rowing centre were ignored by local officials and it eventually impeded the rowing programme.

With Rijiju moving out of the Sports Ministry, his successors got too busy with other issues and the rowing facility in Srinagar turned a non-priority one, which explains why it didn’t move in the right direction.

Ali was one of the several school going rowers enrolled at the CoE which was set up in coordination with the Jammu and Kashmir Government by the Sports Authority of India (SAI). However, players didn’t get the right kind of facilities to grow. “Srinagar has excellent facilities for water sports. But local talent couldn’t benefit from the Government policy,” Ali claims.

Hence, Ali chose his own path to boost his career. “It’s exciting to stay away from home to pursue my goals. I’m learning new things each day,” Ali said.

“I took the bold step as I didn’t find a conducive environment in Srinagar to improve my performance.”

According to Ali, there was no rowing coach at the centre in Srinagar. “I felt it would be better to move out,” Ali adds.

Ali believes there is no substitute for hard work. “I’m in Bhopal for the past three months. The coach is good. The facilities are good,” the towering six foot two inches teenager said.

According to Ali, it’s a harsh reality that players from Srinagar are migrating to other states to hone their skills. “As an active player I have to focus on training,” the young rower said.

Apart from training hard to qualify for Madhya Pradesh State Rowing Academy, Ali is preparing for his Class 11 final examination. “I’m doing my best,” he said before heading for his practice.

EOM