MUMBAI: Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and former All-England Open champion Pullela Gopichand will be the mentors for the ELMS Foundation (Excellence in Learning and Mastering of Sports and Physical Literacy), an initiative that aims to create a modern eco-system to promote sports in the country.
A non-profit organisation founded by Chennayin FC co-owner Vita Dani, Arjuna awardee Kamlesh Mehta and Monalisa Mehta, ELMS aims to work with physical education experts, coaches, sports administrators to create a large pool of trained professionals who can impart modern training to talented athletes across all levels, says an IANS report.
Jalaj Dani, chairman of the board of governors of IIM, Trichy, will be the advisor of the foundation. The programme will include a mix of classroom training, digital lessons and internship in world class institutions to help administrators understand the sport better.
“I believe that we need world-class high-performance directors/administrators in India to lead each sport’s transformation.
“Our goal is to infuse a modern approach into Indian sport that will improve the standard at not just the grassroots level but at the highest level too,” Bindra said.
Gopichand said, “We need to look at sports beyond medals and as a great opportunity for national development.”
“To spread the philosophy and rightful implementation, we need to empower our PE teachers and coaches with the rightful knowledge with systematic support,” he added.
