Organising Sports Competitions and Training Camps

What is the Organising Sports Competitions and Training Camps programme?

Organising Sports Competitions and Training Camps is the core delivery programme of the Department of Sports and Youth Welfare, Government of Uttarakhand, run through the Directorate of Sports at the Maharana Pratap Sports College campus, Thano Road, Raipur, Dehradun. Uttarakhand residents will also see it referred to in departmental notices by its Hindi name, khel pratiyogitaon evam prashikshan shivyron ka aayojan.

The programme has two halves that feed each other. The first is coaching camps: organised training in more than 20 sports, including football, athletics, boxing, volleyball, hockey, badminton, cricket, wrestling, karate, kabaddi, taekwondo, basketball and handball, delivered by departmental coaches and by coaches engaged on contract. The second is a competition ladder that starts at Gram Panchayat and Development Block level, moves up to District level, and ends at State level, where medal winners are given cash prizes.

The department's stated purpose is to widen the base of sport in the state and find talent in rural and remote areas that would otherwise never be scouted. Uttarakhand runs this programme through 2 sports colleges, 26 stadiums, 17 multipurpose halls and 27 indoor facilities spread across its 11 districts.

Who is eligible for the training camps and competitions?

You can take part if:

• You are a resident of Uttarakhand. Representing a Gram Panchayat, block, district or the state requires it.
• You are 8 to 16 years old, the age band the myScheme listing gives for youth players, or below 16 years for a departmental training camp under the department's own fee schedule.
• You are below 21 years, which is the ceiling for a local training camp.
• You are a continuing trainee who has crossed the ceiling; such a player is still admitted up to 25 years at the normal registration or annual fee.
• You are an amateur player aged 16 or above who wants to use departmental facilities on a monthly membership.
• You have been selected in a district or state team, which is what puts a player into the special training camps.

You cannot apply / are not eligible if:

• You are not a resident of Uttarakhand and want to represent the state, a district, a block or a Gram Panchayat in the competition ladder.
• You are above the notified age ceiling and are not a continuing trainee. The subsidised camp rates are strictly age-linked.
• You are looking for a direct cash payment. This is a training and competition programme, not a welfare transfer. Money changes hands only as competition prize money and as camp allowances.
• You expect free equipment as an amateur member. The Directorate states plainly that it supplies no sports equipment or material to amateur players who are on the monthly membership rate.

How much does the training cost?

Departmental training camps: players below 16 years, per player per year:

Local training camps — players below 21 years, per player per year:

Amateur monthly membership for adults using departmental facilities is Rs 1,000 a month in municipal-corporation areas and Rs 800 elsewhere for badminton, squash, tennis and other indoor and outdoor sports, and Rs 2,000 or Rs 1,500 a month for swimming. Facility hours are fixed at 5:00 am to 6:30 am and 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm in summer, and 5:00 am to 6:30 am and 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm in winter.

A player selected in the Uttarakhand state team pays no training fee; only Rs 10 registration in a departmental camp and Rs 50 in a local camp.

What does a special training camp pay?

District-level and state-level special training camps are the intensive camps held before a competition, and they carry a fixed entitlement:

• Diet allowance: Rs 250 per player or coach per day.
• Accommodation: Rs 100 per player or coach per day.
• Travel: actual to-and-fro fare by ordinary bus or sleeper-class rail.
• Sports kit: Rs 1,000 per player: tracksuit, warm-up shoes, socks and the playing kit for that sport.
• Camp equipment: Rs 2,000.
• Opening and closing ceremony: Rs 1,500.
• Miscellaneous: Rs 1,000.
• Honorarium for a coach engaged from outside the department: Rs 3,000.
• Camp size: a maximum of 25 players, with 1 coach at district level and 2 coaches at state level.

Teams travelling up to 200 km within hill areas draw the diet allowance for one day before and one day after the competition. Teams travelling more than 200 km in hill areas draw it for the actual travel period.

How to apply for a camp or competition

Application is offline. There is no online enrolment portal.

1. Watch for the district notice in March. The District Sports Officer publishes camp notices in local newspapers each year announcing which sports will run camps in that district.
2. Collect and fill the application form at the district sports office, the departmental stadium, the indoor hall or the swimming pool named in the notice.
3. Attach your documents: age proof, Uttarakhand residence proof, photographs and, where asked, a school bonafide certificate and a medical fitness certificate.
4. Appear for the selection trial, normally held in April or May. Admission to the camps is on merit through a preliminary district trial and, for higher camps, a final state-level trial.
5. Pay the annual training fee for your sport and category and keep the receipt. That receipt is your proof of enrolment for the financial year.
6. Attend the camp regularly from April to February. Continuous attendance is what keeps you on the normal fee rate after you cross the age ceiling, up to 25 years.
7. Enter the competition ladder through your Gram Panchayat, block, school or district as the department's annual sports calendar announces events. Winners move up a level and become candidates for the special training camps.

How do I check the calendar, trial dates and selection?

1. Open sports.uk.gov.in and look for the departmental annual sports calendar, which the Directorate publishes for each year.
2. Ask your District Sports Officer for the block and district event dates, because the lower rungs of the ladder are organised locally and are not always published online.
3. Check the notice board at your training centre for camp selection lists and team announcements after the trials.
4. Write to the Directorate of Sports at directorspots@gmail.com if the district office cannot resolve a query about selection or fees.

Why players get turned away, and how to fix it

• Inconsistent age proof. A school certificate that disagrees with Aadhaar is the single most common problem, because both the camp category and the competition age group turn on date of birth. Settle on one consistent record first.
• Residence not proved. Without an Uttarakhand residence or domicile certificate you cannot be entered for a Gram Panchayat, block, district or state event.
• Missed the March notice. Camp notices are published once a year and trials follow in April and May. A player who approaches the office in November has usually missed the intake for that year.
• Fee not paid for the current financial year. The camp year runs April to February and enrolment does not roll over automatically.
• Over the age ceiling without a training record. The concession up to 25 years applies only to a player who has been training continuously.
• Expecting equipment on an amateur membership. The Directorate does not supply material to amateur members.

Where do I get help?

• Directorate of Sports, Uttarakhand: Maharana Pratap Sports College campus, Thano Road, Raipur, Dehradun.
• Email: directorspots@gmail.com
• District Sports Officer in your own district, for notices, forms, fees, trials and competition entries.
• Uttarakhand CM Helpline: 1905, for a complaint that the district office has not settled.

No dedicated telephone helpline for this programme is published on sports.uk.gov.in, so the district sports office and the Directorate email are the reliable routes. Enrolment fees are paid at the office against a receipt: no agent is authorised to collect money for a place in a camp or a team.