SAI centre at Dal Lake pushing J&K youth towards water sports

Srinagar, Aug 23 (IANS) Not known as a top performer at the national level, Jammu & Kashmir has done well in the inaugural Khelo India Water Sports Festival (KIWSF) 2025, which concluded at the iconic Dal Lake here on Saturday. The main reason for their success is the Sports Authority of India (SAI), especially the centre set up at Nehru Park inside Dal Lake.

The centre is playing a major role in turning around the careers of these water sports athletes from J&K, who all come from indigent families that struggle to make ends meet.

Mohsin Ali is a carpenter’s son, Sajad Hussain is the son of a Shikarawala, while Muhammad Hussain was born to a vegetable vendor, and none of them would have brought laurels for their state in the Khelo India Water Sports Festival (KIWSF), 2025, but for SAI.

Mohsin won gold in K-1 1000 metre men’s kayaking, Sajad claimed silver in C-2 500 metre Canoe Slalom, and Hussain took silver in C-2 Canoe 500 metres men and bronze in C-1 Canoe 1000 metres men. Their performance enabled hosts J&K to finish seventh among 28 states and Union Territories that took part in the Games.

Mohsin, Sajad, and Hussain have all been honing their skills under the guidance of SAI’s water sports coaches at Nehru Park Centre.

Sajad said that the centre not only provides training to them but also all possible support. “After training at the Nehru Park Centre in the mornings, our SAI coach Zulfkar Ali Bhat would drop us off at school, as that would start soon after. We used to put on our school uniform in his car after training at the centre,” he said.

Hailing from the Mir Bahri area in the interiors of the Dal Lake, Sajad said that being a Shikarawallah’s son, it was difficult to venture into endurance sports like canoeing, as it requires a proper diet, besides hard work and proper training.

“We don’t have the means to even have the basic diet, and asking for a proper diet meant for water sports athletes is not possible for families like us,” Sajad was quoted as saying by SAI Media on Saturday: “Resultantly, after attending school, I would ride a Shikara or do any manual work that helps me sustain myself and not be a burden on the family.”

A vegetable vendor’s son, Muhammad Hussain, said he had faced numerous hardships on the way to his success and was thankful to SAI, which had set up the SAI centre at Nehru Park, which was instrumental in his success.

“We aren’t well off financially, and if we were to train on our own, it would not be possible for us to excel,” he said. “It was the training that we got at SAI Jammu centre at Nehru Park that made a difference.”

Hussain said that training at the centre and participating in sports also keeps youth away from the menace of drug addiction. “When we go by the Boulevard, we see youth with such good physiques indulging in drugs. When I see that, I feel bad for them and think about how well they could do in sports,” he said. “These guys do not know that sports give a better high than any drugs can ever give.”

Mohsin Ali expressed similar sentiments and said that without SAI’s support, he could not have won the gold, as his family too was living hand-to-mouth, and he himself would work on a Shikara to supplement his family’s income.

Their Canoeing and Kayaking coach at SAI’s Nehru Park centre, Zulfkar Ali Bhat, said, “Most of the participants from Jammu and Kashmir come from a humble background. None of them is a son or a daughter of a bureaucrat, a big businessman, or comes from a rich family. They all come from a labour class background.”

He said that as India is bidding for the 2036 Olympics, the SAI Jammu centre at Nehru Park is working on long-term plans, like having the talent and resource poll ready for the event.

Zulfkar said that there is a need to set up a National Centre of Excellence in Srinagar.

“When athletes from all over the country visit that centre, the water sports athletes in Kashmir, like those living in and around the Dal Lake who have the talent but not the means and resources to make it big, will benefit and make the country proud,” he said. “If we start working today towards that goal, I am sure we will produce water sports athletes who will make India proud at the Asian Games, World Championships, and Olympics.”

--IANS

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