Pic courtesy Twitter
Rani Rampal and her gritty teammates have brought much cheer to a nation starved for Olympic medals. The achievements of PV Sindhu, Mirabai Chanu, Lovlina Borgohain, the sterling performances of Mary Kom, Kamalpreet Kaur, the unfortunate malfunction of Manu Bhaker’s air rifle have increased the decibel levels as the nation debates its chances of getting more medals.
It nice to see social media flooded with wishes for the contestants, erupting with joy on a win and pushing around emojis conveying disappointment when players fail to make a mark. But what is not being discussed is why India punches way below its weight when it comes to sports. Compare India's performance with minnows such as Grenada and Jamaica, which regularly get a medal for every couple of hundred thousand people and it will be found dismal. India has the worst population to medals ratio at the Olympics. We have managed to win just 29 medals, including Sindhu’s bronze at Tokyo, since the games began in 1900.
For all the enthusiasm that surfaces around Olympics every four years, we still remain a nation widely indifferent to sports. A recent study by Puma indicates that 57% of India hasn’t played a sport even once in the last 12 months. Less than 2% of the Indian population participates in sports. Cricket and IPL capture most of our attention while we remain oblivious to the names of players excelling in other sports. This is why it is a bit misplaced the manner in which we pin our hopes on wrestlers, table tennis players or weightlifters.
The academic grind of Indian education system leaves little room for sports at school level. There is no serious effort to identify and nurture sporting talent in our educational institutions. Most of the time it is left to the parents to put their children into a sport and then find time and resources to groom them.
Swimming, cricket, basketball, volleyball largely remain a summer camp activity to be indulged during the vacations. Once the schools reopen its back to classrooms. That’s why most of sports clubs in cities and smaller towns are not able to churn out national or international level players. Their students practice in fits and start and are very irregular. This goes totally against the high level of discipline and focus that is required for excelling.
Such is our apathy towards sports other than cricket, that its only when Indian sportspersons excel at an international arena that we even notice them. Dutee Chand, Huma Das, Mary Kom and even many of our cricketers have come for economically poor homes and have put in a huge amount of struggle besides practice to get where they are. The state remains indifferent and the society skeptic of putting money on budding sportspersons.
As a founder member of a foundation that funds underprivileged persons aspiring to excel in sports, I have encountered many promising sportspersons whose talent has been wasted for lack of resources. To take part in events, to buy kits and pay for their training they have to largely depend upon sponsorships and crowdfunding. This saps most of their energy and takes a toll on their physical and mental strength. The lack of transparency and politics in selections also leaves them exhausted.
It is so ironical that once a player has made mark we google her to find out more on her but we never look around for or think of supporting struggling sportspersons in our city, town or village. We take up innumerable causes for charity but seldom think of funding a budding player. We may play all kinds of games on our devices but will not find the time to watch the local teams playing a tournament in our neighbourhood basketball or badminton club.
The support given by government of Odisha has helped our hockey teams to bloom. Supporting a sportsperson gives positive results as a player is always charged and attempting to excel. A supportive hand on the back will make a player take that many enthusiastic leaps forward.
Cheering a sportsperson when she takes the podium hugging the tricolor, fighting back tears of relief as the national anthem plays, is not enough. Our players need support to help them reach that stage more often.
Let’s try giving it. It could be a game changer.
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