In India, the Dronacharya Award is given to coaches as a recognition for their contribution to a particular sport or for their role in an athlete’s rise to the top.
It is also given to motivate coaches to dedicate themselves to raising the performance of their athletes to international standards. It is handed out on National Sports Day – celebrated on August 29, the legendary Dhyan Chand’s birthday every year, along with the Arjuna Award, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, and the Dhyan Chand Award, collectively called the National Sports Day awards.
The Dronacharya award is named after the mythical character Drona who taught the art of warfare to the Kauravas and Pandavas – the protagonists of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. It is officially called the Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, for coaches who help athletes achieve excellence over a period of four years. The awardees are decided by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS). The MYAS select from the coaches nominated by the National Sports Federations, the Indian Olympic Association, the Sports Authority of India (SAI), and state governments.
The awardees are given a bronze statue of ‘guru’ Drona, a certificate, and a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh. A maximum of five Dronacharya Awards, including two for lifetime contribution, are given in a year.
Who won the first Dronacharya Award?
The Dronacharya Award was first handed out in 1985, and the first winner was wrestling coach Bhalchandra Bhaskar Bhagwat.
Along with Bhagwat, renowned athletics coach OM Nambiar – known for his role in shaping PT Usha’s career – and boxing coach Om Prakash Bharadwaj were also among the first recipients of the award that year.
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