‘BOA, India’s oldest Olympic body deserves better’

Kolkata: Chandan Roy Chowdhury, the newly elected president of Bengal Olympic Association (BOA), is quite aware of the enormity of the job on his hands. While his immediate goal is to resume the State Games early next year after a fairly long gap, the ultimate vision is to make the BOA a vibrant umbrella body again with a level-playing field for all the Olympic disciplines.

Less than two weeks back, Roy Chowdhury – a popular sports administrator in Kolkata – made headlines when he upset the applecart of incumbent Swapan ‘Babun’ Banerjee, the younger brother of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Representing the West Bengal Weightlifting Association, the former journalist beat Banerjee by 25 votes but feels it’s time to shake off the euphoria and carry on with the mission of a shake-up in the sports infrastructure of the state.

‘’There is a lot of work to be done to revive the culture of Olympic disciplines in my tenure of four years. However, our first target is to strive for Bengal putting up an improved show in the National Games (early next year in Uttarakhand) than last time and also stage our State Games after a long gap,’’ remarked Roy Chowdhury.

Taking time out to speak to Millennium Post, the official who wears many a hat says the new executive committee will meet shortly to discuss on the blueprint for participation in the National Games. ‘’I am not exactly in favour of sending jumbo contingents…we need to zero in on disciplines where we have medal prospects. The State Games, meanwhile, will be a significant affair for us as we need to celebrate the fact that BOA had just completed it’s centenary last year and is in fact the oldest Olympic body in the country. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was established four years later,’’ he said.

While Roy Chowdhury had played a key role in turning around the historic Calcutta Rowing Club (CRC) as it’s secretary, not to speak of his stints with the state weightlifting body as well as the Bengal Paralympic Association, he had no qualms about admitting that the task to rally around 36 odd state bodies effectively is much tougher. ‘’Our strength is that we have a competent and experienced team of vice presidents and joint secretaries. Going forward, I don’t think finance will be a problem as there are a lot of companies who have enough funds in CSR and we need to tap them. We need the vision and mission to create a legacy,’’ he said.

What will be his priority areas come the new year? Roy Chowdhury says that his thrust will be to

improve the communication strategy of the BOA: ‘’I plan to create a sub committee with members of the media as stakeholders. We also have plans to keep the website updated – the state has been producing a lot of young champions like say shooters Mehuli Ghosh or Adrian Karmakar (son of Joydeep Karmakar). It’s our duty to spread the good word around and create awareness.’’

Asked about his plans to develop any strategy for unearthing grassroots talent, Roy Chowdhury said: ‘’I will focus on districts as that’s where the raw talents come from. I want to visit the officials around the state and see things first hand.’’

‘’ I have also realised the state lacks professional coaches. It has become a demanding job in modern sporting ecosystem, driven by data and technology - it’s now not enough to be just haning around for years to be a good coach.

‘’The other thing which we are lacking is a well equipped rehab centre for athletes – there is one in SSKM Hospital but it’s not enough.

We will be talking to the state government to explore the possibility of setting one up,’’ the BOA supremo added.