The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has been seeing a major revamp in its organisation through a review of its coaches, shooters, and support staff in the aftermath of the poor performance demonstrated during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The evaluation was regarded as a priority considering the second successive poor performance of the 15-member Indian contingent at the Asaka Shooting Ranges despite their immense talents in the rifle, pistol, and shotgun disciplines. Unlike the previous performance at the Olympics in Rio where the shooters admitted to being at fault, the Tokyo Olympics saw lapses in administrative duties by the NRAI, controversies, and the poor handling of coach and shooter conflict which lowered the group morale. One particular instance was the discord between one of the top shooters, Manu Bhakar, and her coach Jaspal Rana, which was said to have impacted her performance and the team in general. Owing to the performance at the Games, NRAI President Raninder Singh promised a ‘post-mortem’ of the organisational body and the performances to better prepare the players and address the issues faced by the contingent. The review of the NRAI began in August 2021. It consisted of three parts, which included an external party that evaluated the national federation’s performance. The examination was prioritised to prepare the team and the national contingent well before the 2022 season. However, before the external evaluation, NRAI also conducted an internal examination of the federation, carried out by its top office-bearers including President Raninder Singh, Secretary Rajiv Bhatia, and Secretary-General D.V Seetharama Rao. Singh stated that he believed that the overhaul of coaching and support staff was required because of the lack of preparation that the shooters displayed at the Olympics. The evaluation conducted by both internal and external parties led to the drastic dissolution of contracts of all 24 coaches of the NRAI but did not see any overhaul of the positions at the top of the hierarchy.The organisation invited applications for foreign and national coaches, and performance managers for the squad of shooters in the pistol, rifle, and shotgun disciplines with a deadline of 30 January 2022. The advertisement for the newly-created position of High Performance Manager stated that the role would be to monitor training and create a development excellence programme for the national team. To maintain the quality of coaches, the appointments are subject to approval by the Sports Authority of India, which has stated that the requirements for coaches must include applicants below the age of 65, participation in the Commonwealth Games, the Olympics, or other World Championships, with prior coaching experience with established shooters in recognised global institutions. Recently, in addition to the coaches being selected, NRAI also invited applications for support staff, including physiotherapists, physical trainers and other consultants, who would work with the coaches and assist both at the junior and senior levels ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
10 Apr 2022
Hannah Sarasu John
