Isolated and ignored: The plight of local coaches
Coaching in any sport is a prestigious profession and the remuneration on offer is also at a standard that encourages others to take up this noble profession as a career.
There are understandable discrepancies depending on the country and sport, with an international football coach or a football club manager at a top level earning a lot more compared to cricket coaches around the world.
But there is also a huge difference when the handful of international coaches are compared to local coaches who hunt talents from the grassroot level.
Bangladesh cricket has come a long way since getting Test status two decades ago, but the local coaches are unfortunately yet to get exposure and trust from the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
Local coaches have faced setbacks for their inability to adapt to the latest coaching methods and it is a matter of fact that there are very few coaches in Bangladesh who can match international standards. But a lack of encouragement from the BCB is a big reason many do not opt for the profession.
Recently, Mohammad Salahuddin, a top grade coach and mentor to national team stalwarts such as Shakib Al Hasan, said that he would discourage prospects from taking up coaching as a profession due to the meagre pay scales.
The experienced coach lamented the remuneration on offer at the Bangabandhu T20 Cup, where four Grade A players were paid Tk 15 lakh each. The lowest grade players received Tk 4 lakh each, but head coaches were paid less than half that. Assistant coaches earned around Tk 1-1.5 lakh while trainers and other coaching staff received significantly less.
"I am not taking any fees right now [for this tournament]. I work at Gazi Group. I am very ashamed of the coaches' remuneration. I have always wanted coaches to come to Bangladesh and more players to think of a career in coaching.
I always hoped they would be able to live with a good status. It seems to me that I will never tell anyone to take up coaching as a profession for such fees," Salahuddin said on December 17 after conducting a practice session with Chattogram ahead of their clash with Gemcon Khulna in the final.
There are a total of 15 High Performance senior coaches under the BCB's game development programme. These coaches receive a monthly salary starting at Tk 80,000. A total of twelve divisional coaches, who are also part of the BCB's HP set-up, receive monthly salaries between Tk 50,000 to 70,000. 63 district coaches receive a monthly salary between Tk 15,000 to 25,000.
Among those BCB-contracted coaches, very few get the opportunity to work during the Bangladesh Premier League or the Dhaka Premier League and miss out on earnings of 2-8 lakhs per season.
One of the biggest concerns that local coaches have is a lack of job security as the BCB only employs coaches on a contractual basis. They do not have a set retirement policy for long-serving coaches and although they receive a 25 per cent bonus in the festive season, those who work in close liason with officials are the ones who are rewarded through increments.
The situation is worse for coaches who are not under BCB contracts, as they rely mainly on their coaching academies and stints in the domestic leagues, both of which have been greatly affected during the pandemic.
After feeling isolated and ignored at times compared to others related to the game, perhaps what coaches would probably urge above all from the BCB is proper respect.
Comments