AFI to appoint first High Performance Director in Indian athletics

This post has been created keeping in mind the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

For the first time in the history of Indian athletics, the Athletics Federation of India is all set to appoint a High Performance Director for track and field sport in the country.

73-year-old United States-based coach Derek Boosey, who has also participated in the 1968 Mexico Olympics, is all set to take up the post. Apart from having the experience of working in many countries in almost similar positions in the past, the veteran athlete also shares an ancestral connection with this country.

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has given official approval to the Athletics Federation of India's proposal to create this new post. Following in the footsteps of Hockey India (HI), which has chief coach Roelant Oltmans doubling up as the High Performance Director, the AFI decided to engage the USA-based Boosey for the top job to boost their medal hopes at the Olympics.

"SAI has given in principle approval of AFI's proposal to appoint a High Performance Director. The file will now go to the Sports Ministry for final approval," a source in the SAI told PTI.

“It is an ambitious project and the idea is that we should aim at winning Olympic medals from athletics from 2020 Olympics onwards," the source added.

Boosey will be appointed for a term of five years which will end after the 2020 Olympic Games. One of the first assignments for the High Performance Director will be to present a document which would contain a step by step plan to proceed for the Federation in order to improve the state of athletics in the country. This post has been specially initiated keeping in mind the 2020 Olympics which is supposed to be held in Tokyo.

Other than this he would also have to actively be a part for anything happening related to athletics in the country. He will have to take care of the grassroots development programs across the nation along with scheduling of national camps, foreign exposure of top athletes and appointment of coaches.

It has been learned that the new Performance Director will garner a salary package somewhere between USD 7,000 to 8,000 per month from this new post.

Recently, Sebastian Coe, the President of the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation) visited the country on a two-day trip. The British, one of the greatest track and field athletes of all time, stressed upon the importance of world class training facilities for Indian athletes to be successful in major international events.

According to the IAAF President the country’s athletics federation has to give more importance to availability of track and field infrastructure in schools. This will be a new step forward for Indian athletics with the AFI all set to follow Coe’s advice.