Goa to show its sporting spirit

Close on the heels of tasting big success by claiming the Santosh trophy by beating arch-rivals Bengal for the first time in a Santosh trophy final, Goans are upbeat  and the Goa government seems to have  taken the moment constructively into its stride to implement a long lost sports policy to make the state one of the leading sport enthusiasts in the country.

In what could be described as a landmark decision, the government of Goa has worked out an ambitious plan wherein sports could be an optional academic subject and the proposal could find implementation from as early as this academic year 2009-2010. If implemented, it could give sports in the state a big fillip and could nurse budding talent to reach to the next level in the sporting arena.

The meeting to this effect was held at the Maquinez place on Tuesday, 16 June 2009 and the decision to make sports an optional academic subject was agreed during this sports policy implementation committee meeting. Sports is therefore expected to be treated on par with other subjects and could get equal weightage in comparison to subjects like mathematics, Geography and History.

However a suggestion to make sports a compulsory subject did not go down well with everyone as some members felt that every child may not find it suitable to actively participate in sports activities.The Chief Minister Mr Digambar Kamat was a the helm of the decision to implement the sports policy for Goa where he felt that it would provide the necessary impetus to back the sportspersons and groom them at a very young age.

Also in agreement was the leave of absence to be granted to students who attend national and international duty as part of the sports policy. The above sports policy was gathering dust since 1998 and now could finally see the light of day and could be a pathbreaker for Goa to make a mark in sports both at the national and international level.