For free coaching, 29-year-old wins 22 medals — and hearts of his trainees

Singh, who trains the athletes free of cost, spent some time holding the medals of his trainees and later advised the athletes to work harder. Incidentally, Singh stayed as a student in the same hostel room at DAV College, Chandigarh, where Tokyo Olympics champion Neeraj Chopra once stayed during his time as a student at the college.

“To see my trainees, most of whom cannot afford training as well as equipment, win medals in the Chandigarh State Athletics Championship has been the biggest joy of my life as well as these trainees. Most of them were competing in a state-level competition for the first time and athletes like Devarsh, Subhi, Piyush, Vanshika, Kajol and Pratibha won the gold apart from other athletes. When their parents applauded them for winning the medal, it was my fee and I hope these athletes achieve more in life. I have not met Neeraj Chopra bhai but seeing him achieve so much for the country motivates me too,” Singh told The Indian Express.

Hailing from Arian Wala village near Jalalabad in Punjab, Singh shifted base to Chandigarh in 2013. While he competed in javelin throw events and won medals in the School National Games representing Kendriya Vidyalaya team, a tennis elbow injury put brakes on his athletics career. The DAV College, Jalalabad, student then enrolled for a master’s course at DAV College, Chandigarh, and started kayaking and canoeing at the Sukhna Lake. The following years would see Singh doing BEd in yoga education before he started giving yoga lessons to athletes in Chandigarh.

“I was always interested in athletics and started training in javelin throw as a school student. My coach Vjay Kumar Sharma always encouraged me a lot. After I suffered the elbow injury, it was my desire to train athletes one day. Like other students, I would also dream about going abroad but it was my yoga guru Amudha Narayanan ma’am, who encouraged me to train athletes without any fee here in India,” said Singh, who was also a member of Indian Dragon Boat team in International Canoe Federation Dragon Boat World Cup in China in 2019.

It was in June this year that Singh, who now works as a yoga therapist in the Sector 22 Government hospital, started giving training to poor kids. At first, he gave training to the athletes at Sector 20 BEd college grounds before training the kids at Sector 20 Government School for Girls and other government schools. Last month, Singh’s trainees won 10 medals, including four gold medals in the First Junior Chandigarh Javelin Championships. After the competition, Singh trained his trainees at the government Model High School, Sector 25, for the Chandigarh State Sub-Junior and Junior Athletics Championship, where his trainees won a total of 22 medals.

“Initially, I visited government schools disturbing pamphlets about free training for athletics. When 15-20 students approached me, I initially trained them at various schools before we were asked to vacate the school ground. I purchased five-six javelins and discus from Meerut to train the kids. After the Javelin State Championship, I trained the kids at the Sector 33 Terrace Garden for physical training. It was not until we approached Rajinder Singh, principal at the Government Model High School, Sector 25, that the trainees got to train properly for their events for a week prior to the Chandigarh State Championships. If given permission, I want to train as many kids as possible but athletic events require a proper ground,” said Singh.