Sports have been a force from the time
humanity came into existence. Even the epics cite Wrestling, Archery, Chariot Racing,
Fencing, Mace fighting, and Equestrian games. Sports bestows an active healthy
lifestyle, creates a culture of sportsmanship and team spirit. It brings people
together, influence cultural and societal change, inculcates discipline and
teaches people to win and lose. History backs up all the above – Jesse Owens
winning the gold medals in the 1936 Summer Olympics games thus becoming an icon
of equality, Muhammad Ali winning the world heavyweight championship in 1964 at
the age of 22 thus redefining persistence, Mary Kom punching her way to win
India’s highest sporting award, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Retna in 2009 thus becoming
a fitting idol of confidence, Sachin Tendulkar symbolizing the values of an
average middle class, and many others. To a nation, promoting sports brings in
the spirit of the game, pride, a sense of social fullness and employment
opportunities. India is, regrettably, not considered a sporting nation and lags
in majority of sports. Even though our country has started to increase spending
on local and global sports events and Indian athletes win international
acclaim, there is still lot to be done to bring sports on a steady footing and
a part of our culture.
India has an uncompromising fervour with
Cricket but very little passion for sports. Kids aspire to become a Tendulkar
when they grow up but not a Gagan Narang or Abhinav Bindra or Sushil Kumar or
Dhyan Chand or Mahesh Bhupati. Cricket gets the best managements and sponsors because
of its popularity and gets massive attention by the media and the Government. How
many of us know that Hockey is our national sport? The game has lost its charm
over the last few years and even failed to qualify in the recent Olympic Games.
India’s performance has not been up to the mark at various Olympic Games and
lags far behind countries such as China, Australia, Japan, Russia, South Korea,
USA, Cuba, etc. It is heartening to see that India has excelled in many Common
Wealth Games than the Olympics, and has managed to rank among the top nations.
But this may be attributed to the fact that Olympic nations such as China, USA,
Germany, France, Russia do not participate in these games. We also lack sports culture,
spirit and competition within the nation.
In the 34th National Games 2011
held in Jharkhand, Manipur and Haryana were the best performing states whereas
populous states such as Bihar, Orissa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal and
Uttar Pradesh lagged behind. Athletes from Haryana and Manipur have been making
noteworthy contribution to India’s performance at the Olympic Games, Common
Wealth Games and Asian Games and they were the top performing states in the
last few National Games of India. Their victory can be endorsed by the healthy
sporting culture they follow and the policies of their respective State Governments.
The Governments have implemented a focused approach to develop sports in their
states and run various projects in the areas of talent grooming, infrastructure
and incentives. In Haryana, the Government conducts Sports and Physical Aptitude
Test (SPAT) in schools to discover talented athletes and a sport is allocated
to them based on their physical parameters and interests. These students are
then supported financially along with proper training, tailored diet and medical
checkups. The state also has more than 40 schools to train athletes with the
provision of free accommodation, food and games kit. There are many stadiums
with full-time coaches, sports complexes and academies for individual sports
such as wrestling and boxing. The Government also encourages winning
sportspersons and other stakeholders by providing incentives such as government
jobs, financial incentives, reservation in admissions to professional
institutions, etc. The Manipur Government’s policy recommends sports and
recreation to be made a way of life where sports and physical education is made
compulsory in all educational institutions. The Government allots a high
percentage of its budget towards sports and games. The sporting culture of
Manipur is very strong and vigorous that it is often quoted that every Manipuri
is a warrior.
It is very important to build a dynamic
sporting culture in India and form an alliance of the Government and the
private sector to reinforce the sports industry. Insufficient public resources
for sports and low status of non-cricket sports hinder our performance in the
global sporting arena. Political intervention and corruption also play a major
part in placing India far behind in sports among other countries. Nationwide
and state level media campaigns to raise awareness and generate interest in
sports involving celebrities could help promote sports in the country. Recognising
sports as an industry status is another option to bring professionalism and
increase more opportunities in sports including expanding other connected
industries like sports manufacturing, medicine, management, education, marketing
and consulting. We also face a critical shortage of expert indigenous coaches
and good sports education infrastructure. We require public infrastructure like
stadiums, residential schools and private training academies in lieu of
reasonable fees to produce competent athletes. Specialised courses such as
sports medicine, psychology, nutrition should also be included in existing
public and private universities. More and more people should be encouraged to
take up sports as a career through awareness programmes presenting case studies
of career progression and opportunities in the field. Enhanced sports
infrastructure such as competent legacy planning for games hosted by India,
effective implementation of existing schemes, support of corporate investment,
establishing flexible policies will help in creating a strong sporting culture
in India. The states of Haryana and Manipur can be role models for other
states, and the country as a whole and their Governments’ policies can be
followed to achieve success. It is also important to encourage women to play an
active part in sports as they are often considered as weak and their potential
is always questioned. It’s also a rarity that we find Mary Koms and Sania
Nehwals due to the gender discrimination that has paved way into sports.
India needs to be an incubator of sporting
excellence in Olympic sports such as Hockey, Football, Tennis, Basketball, Golf,
Table Tennis, Wrestling, Boxing, Archery, Cycling, Equestrian sports, Volleyball
etc; Non-Olympic sports such as Kabaddi, Chess, Karate, Floorball, Throwball, Billiards
and Snooker, Baseball, Rock Climbing, etc; Winter sports such as Ice Hockey and
Bandy; and Regional sports such as Kancha, Kite flying, Martial arts, Gilli-danda,
etc. We require more catalysts of change such as Leander Paes, Viswanathan
Anand, Vijender Singh, Karnam Malleswari, Yogeshwar Dutt, Geet Sethi, Dhanraj
Pillai, Anju Bobby George, Pankaj Advani, Anjali Bhagwat, etc. Along with the existing
major Sports Leagues in India such as Indian Premier League (IPL), Champions
Tennis League (CTL), Indian Badminton League (IBL), Indian Super League (ISL),
Pro Kabaddi Leage (PKL), Ranji Trophy, etc we need many more leagues in various
sports.
Sports can make significant socio-economic
impact on a nation by ensuring physical fitness and healthy lifestyle among the
citizens. Participating in sports is believed to curb youth crimes and
anti-social behaviour. Sports shape a person’s character extensively by
instilling soft skills such as alertness, discipline, concentration, focus,
team work and leadership. Sports breeds sportsman spirit in a person that will
teach him to accept failures positively and move forward. Sports also impact
the environment as it encourages more physical activity such as walking and
cycling which will reduce pollution and traffic congestion. Performance in
sports is one of the major drivers of national pride. India has a large young
population and promoting a healthy sporting culture among its youth will build
a physically and mentally sound nation.
“I was trying my best to just stop that
ball from going over the fence. I’d sacrifice my body if I have to. I’ve done
that my whole career. This is the postseason. I’d die on the field for this.”
Torii Hunter, on his famous dive over the
wall in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series
