Guwahati, May 5: Sports officers and physical instructors today received exclusive lessons from experts in subjects as diverse as motivation, stress management and leadership at the Assam Administrative Staff College in Jawaharnagar here.

Sources in the college and in the directorate of sports and youth welfare said 24 district sports officers, sub-divisional sports officers and physical instructors were taking part in the first-of-its-kind refresher course organised by the college.

The training course, titled Management Development Programme for District Sports and Youth Welfare Officers, will continue till Friday.

A senior sports department official said the course would help the participants get acquainted with the latest developments in the field of sport and administration.

“It is a welcome initiative of the college, as sports personnel from the districts will greatly benefit from this programme. It will help them deal with the changing times at both the administrative and sports levels. To do well in sport, one needs to be aware of how to manage things both on and off the field and work as a team without cribbing. Such programmes will boost the efficiency of our personnel,” he said.

Director of sports Prashanta Bora addressed the meet and encouraged the participants to gear up so that they could be deputed to the proposed Assam Sports Authority to maintain the infrastructure for the National Games.

Bora, sources said, played an active role in shortlisting the participants.

Before the refresher course, the directorate had held two seminars on April 11 and 25 for 32 accountants and accountant assistants and 27 DSOs respectively to acquaint themselves with the changes in the field, including the Right To Information Act.

The issues that figured today included managing changes at the workplace and formation of teams and allotment of projects.

Tomorrow, there will be workshops on motivation and leadership and duties and responsibilities of the Drawing and disbursal officer, generally the DSOs.

There will also be workshops on attitudinal change, self-development and communication at Don Bosco Institute in Kharguli on Wednesday. Managing stress at workplace will be one of the topics of discussion on Thursday.