KOCHI: For Ponni, PT Usha and Mercy Kuttan are not just legendary athletes but her goddesses, women who inspired her to dream. After toiling and labouring for years, finally 26-year-old Ponni carved a niche in a man’s field. She is one of the few women who have been selected to coach a team in school athletics in Kerala.At present, she is serving as the director of the Calvary Mount HSS Sports Hostel in Idukki. Alongside, she is grooming a group of more than 100 wards. She feels that being a woman coach gives her an edge over most of the men coaches, a concept which not many people may agree too.“The passion to serve as a coach arose when I was being trained by men in my younger years. The men coaches have a lot of expertise and they know how to encourage beyond measure, a quality which women sometimes fail to acquire. However, women coaches do have an edge. I feel it when my girls come to me with their problems,” she said.She said that girl athletes have to face more pressure in dealing with their emotional as well as physical problems. They need boosting up and also someone to confide in during their formative years. Being a coach, she said, has its ups and downs. “You can’t play anymore for a team. I loved the days when I played for junior nationals and state games. Then you become a guide and mentor, who has to ensure that your wards do their best and give their best at the games,” Ponni said.Trained in the area of shot put and disc throw in her college years, the coach said that she was introduced to the arena of sports by her grandfather. “He used to take me to the ground and make me watch the athletes in action. I began to take a liking to throws. My body was fit from walking and running in the hills of Idukki,” she said. She was trained in Sports Academy of India (SAI) and was also coached by one of the finest coaches of Mar Basil School in Kothamangalam.Ponni, married to a navy official, said that the support of her family and the energy of her kids give her satisfaction. “My working day begins at 5:30 in the morning, when I call students to come and train in the ground. In my hometown, most people ask me if I don’t have anything better to do. It’s a challenge but it is not bitter,” she added.The coach is happy that her school, Calvary Mount, Idukki, bagged six medals during the 55th Kerala State Schools Athletics Championship held here. “Two of my students have also qualified for the nationals. That is a good feeling,” said the coach who is experiencing her first state level meet.
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