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India had always been associated with cricket and sometimes this fact had always bothered a true sports fan. However, things are changing. Now, India has proved its potential in other sports as well. Our nation has started getting recognition in other sport like badminton, javelin throw, boxing, chess, running, weightlifting, and many more sports. Athletes always get lauded and praised by fans as they should be, but in the midst of the glamour, people tend to forget about the contribution that the academies have had to this success. The number of athletic academies has been on the rise and every academy does play a huge part in making India a nation of more than just cricket. So let’s take a look at the best athletics academy in India.
The top 10 Best Athletics Academies In India
| Rank | Athletic Academy |
| 1 | Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru |
| 2 | Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, Patiala |
| 3 | Inspire Institute of Sports, Bellary |
| 4 | Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha |
| 5 | Anju Bobby George Sports Foundation, Bengaluru, Karnataka |
| 6 | MAR Athanasius Sports Academy, Ernakulam, Kerala |
| 7 | MP Academy, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh |
| 8 | SDAT Academy Tiruvannamalai and Madurai, Tamil Nadu |
| 9 | Army Sports Institute, Pune, Maharashtra |
| 10 | G.H.G. Khalsa College, Gurusar Sadhar, Ludhiana |
G.H.G. Khalsa College, Gurusar Sadhar, Ludhiana
G.H.G. Khalsa College is an educational institute in Ludhiana but has also excelled when it comes to training and manufacturing quality athletes. It is one of the best athletics academies in India.
Sports facilities are as follows
- Grounds for Hockey, Football, Handball, Kho-Kho, Volleyball, Basketball, and Badminton.
- Field tracks, Gymnasium, Shooting range, and Archery.
- Equipment and modules related to Yoga Health club
- Gym.
Army Sports Institute, Pune, Maharashtra
Pune is an Oxford of East when it comes to formal education. But that doesn’t mean, this City in Maharashtra lags in sports and athletics. It is always among the top sporting cities. The major reason for this is The Army Sports Institute.
Army Sports Institute is a sports academy in Pune where budding sports players train for sports like Archery, Athletics, Boxing, Diving, Wrestling, Fencing, and Weightlifting. The academy was established on July 1, 2001, to tap into the vast pool of sporting talent serving in the army.
Army Sports Institute has world-class facilities and is one of the best athletics academy in India. It includes a 400m international standard synthetic track and a 2km cross country/warm-up track. It also takes care of the rehab of athletes. The academy has some foreign coaches as well.
SDAT Academy Tiruvannamalai and Madurai, Tamil Nadu
SDAT or The Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu is under the control of the Government of Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu has always been a cricketing state.
Along with producing super brains and cricketing stars, this state in South India has started to bring stars in the field of athletics as well and most credit goes to SDAT Academy Tiruvannamalai and Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
SDAT has the following facilities
- Integrated Sports Complex.
- Swimming Pools.
- Synthetic Hockey Turfs.
- Synthetic Athletic Tracks.
- Multipurpose Indoor Stadia.
- District Sports Complexes.
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MP Academy, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
MP Academy has been working tirelessly for more than 6 years and has recently celebrated its anniversary in July 2022. The academy has every type of infrastructure needed to produce world-class athletes and sports personalities.
This state of art training center also has foreign coaches along with Indian coaches to train an athlete and prepare them for the biggest stage.
MAR Athanasius Sports Academy, Ernakulam, Kerala
The MAR Athanasius Sports Academy in Kerala works under the supervision of the MAR Athanasius College Association. This college was awarded the Best College in Sports Award in 2013. The college has provided the maximum number of men athletes in the All India Inter University Championship for the last three years and secured 14 Gold, 9 Silver, and 3 Bronze Medals.
Notably, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) has selected this college as its extension center. This is an achievement to have!
The college has helped and encouraged many athletes from a very young age. Many of them have represented India at the highest level. Anilda Thomas (Athletics 400 m) and Gopi. T (Athletics Marathon) were the two athletes from here who both represented India in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Anju Bobby George Sports Foundation, Bengaluru, Karnataka
Anju Bobby George Sports Foundation is a great initiative by Robert bobby George and Anju Bobby George to encourage young players to take up sports as a career and make the country proud. Anju Bobby George is herself a legendary Indian athlete who has won many medals for India. Her husband is Robert Bobby George who was her coach and former national champion in the Triple Jump.
This is one of the best athletics academies in India and aims to help as many athletes as possible from rural areas, where they struggle for money and hence can’t join any training facility. Most of their focus is on grass-root development.
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Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha
Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology is an educational institute located in Bhubaneshwar which is also famous for yielding athletes. Despite being an educational institution, it is always considered one of the best athletics academies in India, when it comes to the quality of sporting facilities.
Many of their alumni have showcased their talent in the Olympics, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games. The most prominent name of them all is sprinter Dutee Chand.
Inspire Institute of Sports, Bellary
Inspire Institute of Sports is a sports academy in Vijayanagar (Karnataka). The academy has a sprawling campus of 42 acres. This sports training center is India’s first-ever privately-funded high-performance training center. Athletes can train here for sports like wrestling, boxing, judo, athletics, and swimming. This institute has played a crucial role in the development of boxer Nikhat Zareen who has recently won her first Commonwealth Medal.
Following are the facilities provided at Inspire Institute of Sports
- 42000 square feet combat hall.
- Gym.
- Sports Science Lab.
- Physiotherapy & Recovery Centers.
- Learning Centers.
- Athlete Accommodation.
- Club House.
- Cafeteria.
Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, Patiala
Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, or simply NIS is the largest sports institute in Asia and is considered the ‘Mecca’ of Indian sport. Well, it does not train athletes, but trains and educates coaches who will then turn a raw sporting talent into a top-notch athlete. It is an academic wing of the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
The 268 acres of campus have huge facilities for academic programs and sports training including a gymnasium, swimming pool, indoor halls, cycling velodrome, squash courts, hockey fields (grass and synthetic), athletic track (cinder and synthetic), and outdoor courts. It regularly hosts national athletics championships as well.
Following are the departments that work for NIS
- Department of Sports Medicine.
- Department of Exercise Physiology.
- Department of Sports Biochemistry.
- Department of Sports Anthropometry.
- Department of Sports Psychology.
- Department of Sports Nutrition.
- Department of General Theory & Methods of Training.
- Department of Biomechanics.
Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru
Everyone must have heard the name Sports Authority of India or simply named SAI. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is the apex national sports body of India. SAI was founded in 1982 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of the Government of India for the development of sports in India.
One can say, SAI is an engine room of Indian sports, particularly athletics. The branches and sub-branches of SAI have been spread all over India with schemes, goals, and objectives.
There are 11 SAI Regional Centers, 14 Center of Excellence, 56 Sports Training Centers, and 20 Special Area Games.
SAI Bangalore has both indoor and outdoor facilities including synthetic tracks, hockey turf, a swimming pool, tennis clay court, a nine-hole golf course, kabaddi mats, and conditioning halls among others.
SAI Bangalore was the exact location where Indian athletes stayed in the bio-bubble and trained hard before departing for Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
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