Profiling Pro Kabaddi side Dabang Delhi's backroom staff - The men behind the camera
Behind every successful team, is a set of diligent and extremely hard working individuals who do everything in their own capacity to make conditions optimum for the players who toil on the field. The responsibility of creating a well-fuelled outfit is deemed as much theirs as anyone else’s. The Delhi franchisee of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League has maneuvered an extremely skillful set of individuals to go with the squad that they had at their disposal.
Below is an attempt to profile them:
Arjun Singh – Assistant Coach
An extremely experienced campaigner, this samaritan from Uttar Pradesh brings along with him expertise in coaching with a great track record at the junior level. After getting the required qualification to be a kabaddi coach, Arjun has led the UP State Team and the UP Police team to a bronze medal for 7 and 6 years respectively at the National Championships and the All India Police Games.
The current coach of the Under-19 Indian national team, he has guided his team to a gold medal in 2011-2012 at the Junior Asian championship at Malaysia. Diminutive and soft-spoken, Arjun’s strength lies in his ability to determine situations before hand and ensures that his team goes through rigorous training to be physically fit.
Dr. Sandeep Kumar – Sports Scientist
Its almost imperative for a sporting franchisee these days to have a specialised sports physician and it didn’t take the Dabangs long before jumping on the bandwagon. Earlier this year, Dr. Sandeep was roped in to take care of the diet and for physical and mental conditioning of the team.
A kabaddi player requires the skill sets of multiple sport disciplines, covering endurance, strength, agility and the mental prowess to take physical blows of an opponent and he is that critical element to cover all bases outside of the sports’ technical nuances. He has worked as the medical consultant to the junior and senior national football teams for both boys and girls and also heads the medical team for the ISL franchise, FC Goa.
Russell Pinto – Physiotherapist
Also roped in this season, the 25-year-old has hit the ground running. A popular figure amongst the players, he has already commenced with his task by introducing the concept of loop bands during warm up sessions which helps in toning up muscles before matches, thus avoiding unnecessary injuries. He also boasts of a supreme resume, having previously worked with FC Goa during ISL and has also been part of the Indian National Football team and Salgaocar FC.