While there are many awards offered by the Government of India to honor sportsmen and women for outstanding performances in various sports, there is only one that recognizes the contribution of coaches. It is called the Dronacharya Award and it is offered to coaches and trainers for dedicating their lives towards the task of producing outstanding athletes and sportspersons for the country.
The Dronacharya Award was first instituted in 1985. It carries a cash prize of Rs. 7 lakh, and comes with a tie, a blazer, a scroll and a suit. Also included is a bronze statue of Guru Dronacharya, the great teacher from the Mahabharata who taught archery to the mighty warrior prince Arjuna.
It is entirely appropriate that India’s highest award for coaches is named after Dronacharya, considering the fact that the nation’s highest sports award for outstanding performance in sports called the Arjuna Award. The winners of the Dronacharya Award include Indian and foreign coaches. B.I. Fernandez from Cuba is the first foreign coach to be given this award for his contribution to Indian boxing.
Some of the most famous recipients of this award are Ramakant Achrekar, who coached Sachin Tendulkar, and the great Pullela Gopichand, who has trained world class badminton players who have won great laurels for India such as Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu.
The recipients are selected by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The number of Dronacharya Awards given cannot exceed five in any calendar year. Only individuals working as full time or part time coaches and who have had an excellent track record during the year for which the award is given, as well as for three years prior to that are eligible for the prize.
Dronacharya Awards 2017 Winners
| S.No. | Name of the Awardee | Discipline |
| 1 | G. S. S. V. Prasad | Badminton (For Lifetime Contribution) |
| 2 | Brij Bhushan Mohanty | Boxing (For Lifetime Contribution) |
| 3. | Roshan Lal | Wrestling (For Lifetime Contribution) |
| 4. | Sanjoy Chakraverthy | Shooting (For Lifetime Contribution) |
| 5. | Heera Nand Kataria | Kabaddi |
| 6. | R. Gandhi | Athletics |
| 7. | P. A. Raphel | Hockey (For Lifetime Contribution) |
| Sr. No. | Year | Sportsperson [Awardee] | Sport [Discipline] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 1985 | O.M. Nambiar | Athletics |
| 02 | 1985 | Om Prakash Bhardwaj | Boxing |
| 03 | 1985 | Bhalchandra Bhaskar Bhagwat | Wrestling |
| 04 | 1986 | Raghunandan Vasant Gokhle | Chess |
| 05 | 1986 | Desh Prem Azad | Cricket |
| 06 | 1987 | Gurcharan Singh | Cricket |
| 07 | 1987 | Guru Hanuman | Wrestling |
| 08 | 1990 | Ramakant Achrekar | Cricket |
| 09 | 1990 | Syed Naeemuddin | Football |
| 10 | 1990 | A. Ramana Rao | Volleyball |
| 11 | 1994 | Ilyas Babar | Athletics |
| 12 | 1995 | Karan Singh | Athletics |
| 13 | 1995 | M. Shyam Sunder Rao | Volleyball |
| 14 | 1996 | Wilson Jones | Billiards and Snooker |
| 15 | 1996 | Pal Singh Sandhu | Weightlifting |
| 16 | 1997 | Joginder Singh Saini | Athletics |
| 17 | 1998 | Bahadur Singh | Athletics |
| 18 | 1998 | >Hargobind Singh Sandhu | Athletics |
| 19 | 1998 | G.S.Sandhu | Boxing |
| 20 | 1999 | Kenneth Owen Bosen | Athletics |
| 21 | 1999 | Capt. Hawa Singh | Boxing |
| 22 | 1999 | Ajay Kumar Sirohi | Weightlifting |
| 23 | 2000 | S.M. Arif | Badminton |
| 24 | 2000 | Gudial Singh Bhangu | Hockey |
| 25 | 2000 | Phadke Gopal Pushottam | Kho-Kho |
| 26 | 2000 | Bhupender Dhawan | Powerlifting |
| 27 | 2000 | Hansa Sharma | Weightlifting |
| 28 | 2001 | Prof. Sunny Thomas | Shooting |
| 29 | 2001 | Michael Joseph Ferreira | Billiards and Snooker |
| 30 | 2002 | Renu Kohli | Athletics |
| 31 | 2002 | Jaswant Singh | Athletics |
| 32 | 2002 | M.K. Kaushik | Hockey |
| 33 | 2002 | E. Prasad Rao | Kabaddi |
| 34 | 2002 | Cdr. H.D. Motivala | Yachting |
| 35 | 2003 | Robert Bobby George | Athletics |
| 36 | 2003 | Anoopkumar Saharan | Women’s boxing |
| 37 | 2003 | Rajinder Singh | Hockey |
| 38 | 2003 | Sukhchain Singh Cheema | Wrestling |
| 39 | 2004 | Arvind Savur | Billiards and Snooker |
| 40 | 2004 | Sunita Sharma | Cricket |
| 41 | 2004 | Cyrus Poncha | Squash |
| 42 | 2004 | Gurcharan Singh | Boxing |
| 43 | 2005 | Hony. Captain M Venu | Boxing |
| 44 | 2005 | Balwan Singh | Kabaddi |
| 45 | 2005 | Maha Singh Rao | Wrestling |
| 46 | 2005 | Ismail Baig | Rowing |
| 47 | 2006 | R.D. Singh | Athletics |
| 48 | 2006 | Damodaran Chandralal | Boxing |
| 49 | 2006 | Koneru Ashok | Chess |
| 50 | 2007 | Sanjeev Kumar Singh | Archery |
| 51 | 2007 | Jagdish Singh | Boxing |
| 52 | 2007 | G.E. Sridharan | Volleyball |
| 53 | 2007 | Jagminder Singh | Wrestling |
| 54 | 2009 | Pullela Gopichand | Badminton |
| 55 | 2009 | Satpal | Wrestling |
| 56 | 2009 | J. Uday Kumar | Kabaddi |
| 57 | 2009 | Baldev Singh | Hockey |
| 58 | 2009 | Jaidev Bisht | Boxing |
| 59 | 2010 | AK Kutty | Athletics (For Lifetime Contribution) |
| 60 | 2010 | Captain Chandrup | Wrestling (For Lifetime Contribution) |
| 61 | 2010 | Ajay Kumar Bansal | Hockey |
| 62 | 2010 | Subhash Agarwal | Billiards and Snooker |
| 63 | 2010 | L Ibomcha Singh | Boxing |
| 64 | 2011 | Inukurthi Venkateshwara Rao | Boxing |
| 65 | 2011 | Devender Kumar Rathore | Gymnastics |
| 66 | 2011 | Ramphal | Athletics |
| 67 | 2011 | Kuntal Roy | Athletics |
| 68 | 2011 | Rajinder Singh | Hockey |
| 69 | 2012 | Virendra Poonia | Athletics |
| 70 | 2012 | Sunil Dabas | Kabaddi (Women) |
| 71 | 2012 | Yashvir Singh | Wrestling |
| 72 | 2012 | Harendra Singh | Hockey |
| 73 | 2012 | Satyapal Singh | Para Sports(Athletics) |
| 74 | 2012 | J.S. Bhatia | Athletics |
| 75 | 2012 | Bhavani Mukharjee | Table Tennis |
| 76 | 2012 | B.I. Fernadez | Cuban Boxing Coach-Boxing (For Lifetime Contribution) |
| 77 | 2013 | Poornima Mahato | Archery |
| 78 | 2013 | Mahavir Singh | Boxing |
| 79 | 2013 | Narinder Singh Saini | Hockey |
| 80 | 2013 | K P Thomas | Athletics |
| 81 | 2013 | Raj Singh | Wrestling |
| 82 | 2014 | Mahabir Prasad | Wrestling |
| 83 | 2014 | Jose Jacob | Rowing (For lifetime contribution) |
| 84 | 2014 | N.Lingappa | Athletics (For lifetime contribution) |
| 85 | 2014 | G. Manoharan | Boxing (For lifetime contribution) |
| 86 | 2014 | Gurcharan Singh Gogi | Judo (For lifetime contribution) |
| 87 | 2015 | Anoop Singh | Wrestling |
| 88 | 2015 | Naval Singh | Para Athletics |
| 89 | 2015 | Harbans Singh | Athletics (For Lifetime Contribution) |
| 90 | 2015 | Swatantra Raj Singh | Boxing (For Lifetime Contribution) |
| 91 | 2015 | Nihar Ameen | Swimming (For Lifetime Contribution) |
| 92 | 2016 | Nagapuri Ramesh | Athletics |
| 93 | 2016 | Sagar Mal Dhayal | Boxing |
| 94 | 2016 | Raj Kumar Sharma | Cricket |
| 95 | 2016 | Bishweshwar Nandi | Gymnastics |
| 96 | 2016 | Pradeep Kumar | Swimming (For Lifetime Contribution) |
| 97 | 2016 | Mahavir Singh Phogat | Wrestling (For Lifetime Contribution) |