GS Sports Affairs Review: Shashank Srivastava

The Institute General Body Meets (GBMs) are conducted twice every year with the intent to provide all students a convenient mechanism to provide feedback and addressme.co.nz/ball-dresses.html”>dressme.co.nz/ball-dressme.co.nz/ball-dresses.html”>dresses.html”>dressme.co.nz/ball-dresses.html”>dress concern to the student representatives responsible for various amenities on campus.

The General Secretary Sports Affairs GBM is scheduled from 10:45 PM on 30th March at the IRCC Auditorium (SOM).

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Manifesto Analysis

A point-by-point analysis of the manifesto can be found here.

General Policy

With the Inter IIT being hosted by IIT-B, the priority was on the timely upgrading of the sports infrastructure in the form of SAC Phase II along with improvements in the on-campus sports facilities. It was felt that there was a lot of demand for sporting events other than the usual General Championships but owing to the lack of manpower, the previous councils were not able to cater to such demand.

Clubs were thus formed in existing sports and new sports like skating, chess, etc. to facilitate the organisation of events by shifting this workload from the secretaries to the club conveners. Another rationale behind creating positions for club conveners was to provide a platform for the second year students to get involved with sports affairs at an institute level. Open events and tournaments were conducted as club activities along with the GCs and saw a very successful participation. A proposal to create one secretary position for Skating, Adventure and Novel Sports was made and has been agreed for a probation period of one year.

[pullquote]With the Inter IIT being hosted by IIT-B, the priority was on the timely upgrading of the sports infrastructure in the form of SAC Phase II along with improvements in the on-campus sports facilities.[/pullquote]Web and online facilities were not successfully implemented due to the inadequate strength of web and design teams. A proposal to increase the number of web nominees has been approved and from the next tenure, the sports council would have 2 such positions. The CPS systemwas restricted from an order based system to a menu based system due to the issues with handling finances and catering to the whims of the buyers.

Post Inter IIT, there was a slump in the working of the council and the implementation of the manifesto was generally lax.

SAC Phase II

The planning for the sites of the infrastructure had been decided during the tenure of the previous council. The current council pushed for the details of the infrastructure like surfacing of courts, purchasing of equipments,etc. The construction was planned to be completed way before Inter IIT, but there were administrative delays due to disagreements on the details.[pullquote]The construction of SAC Phase II was planned to be completed way before Inter IIT, but there were administrative delays due to disagreements on some infrastructural details[/pullquote] For instance, Yonex mats were to be installed on the badminton courts and a proposal had been formalised and agreed upon. However, the DD FEA refused to sanction it at a very late stage owing to lack of funds. This resulted in a hasty wooden surfacing of the badminton courts within a span of 20 days. These delays however gave newer insights into the details and ultimately proved beneficial, according to the GSSA.

Most of the construction has been completed to an extent where the facilities can be used for sports. Tender for the gymnasium has been formalised and 4 contractors are vying for it. A 1.7 crore gymnasium for students and a 47 lakh gymnasium for the staff is going to be constructed. A deadline of 90 days has been decided upon starting from 13th march. It would take about 30 days more to purchase and install the equipment in the gym. Interviews for the gym trainer were conducted earlier but Vijay sir, the weightlifting coach, took up the responsibility and hence no recruitment was needed. The new gymnasium will have 4 trainers including a female trainer. The indoor cricket pitch needs surfacing and the lighting of the indoor kho kho court is pending. A proposal for an indoor “Bouldering wall” is in the pipeline.

Inter IIT

As hosts, the Inter IIT was touted to be the best ever with the promised infrastructure and the efficient organisation. There were issues as Inter IIT drew closer but the necessary information was communicated to the other IITs. NIS interns were called during the summer camp and training was given to Inter IIT players as well. Under the rate contract, which covered 4 sports vendors, procurement of equipment was made easier. Regular events with the contingent were conducted to foster team spirit. Diwali camp was officially organised, with 170 people staying back during the holidays for practice. Each Inter IIT player was allowed to shift dinner to one hostel for the entire semester to ensure food availability after practice and also to encourage team dinners. Separate trials for PGs and UGs were conducted for better scouting of talent. Participation in outside tournaments was encouraged to help the teams gauge their performances and improve upon for Inter IIT. Almost every team played at least 2 such tournaments. A physiotherapist was recruited during the camp and the Meet to ensure minimum injuries and efficient recuperation.

During the inter IIT, participants were provided with mattresses, bedsheets and pillows along with a daily needs kit – this was different from other Inter IITs where only mattresses were provided by the host. Last minute changes in the schedule had to be made due to unexpected rains at the beginning of the tournament.

Sports for the ‘aam junta’

There was an effort to increase the participation of girls and people who generally refrained from participation in sports. Events for girls were organised for two days to celebrate Women’s Day. However, they weren’t well-publicized. Aquatics Fun Day was conducted for girls.

There were open tournaments conducted in sports like badminton, volleyball, table tennis, football and chess. Sporting events for PGs and Freshmen were conducted to promote sports and encourage participation. PG NSO was conducted for one semester and was subsequently dropped for the next semester due to very low attendance.[pullquote]There was an effort to increase the participation of girls and people who generally refrained from participation in sports.[/pullquote] Sports mela was conducted on 29th August, the National Sports Day. Camps across various sports were organised to cater to the beginners. The mentorship programme was however run for just one month as opposed to the planned 8 months.

The proposal for an online grievance redressme.co.nz/ball-dresses.html”>dressme.co.nz/ball-dressme.co.nz/ball-dresses.html”>dresses.html”>dressme.co.nz/ball-dresses.html”>dressal system did not take place due to technical issues but sports was incorporated in the existing CMS system. Offline feedback or installation of suggestion boxes did not happen.

The idea of a half-yearly sports magazine was dropped as it was speculated to be a time and labour intensive work along with a lack of interest from students. However, no survey was conducted to support the speculation. Under Sports Yatra, which was launched to boost spectatorship for sports through planned trips to stadiums, only one such event was organised where people from the institute went to watch an Indian Soccer League match.

Here’s a summary of the GSSA’s performance: