How can we encourage India's youth to achieve excellence in sports?

Question

In sports, character, value, physical and mental strength are all challenged in a short span of time. Sports can tell us a lot about ourselves as individuals and as a society. Yet, apart from a fanatic obsession with Cricket, we have very little to show for our passion in sports. While there is certainly better infrastructure available today, sport is not a popular part of Indian culture. Instead of joining sports teams or athletic games, many children are spending countless hours in front of TV screens and video games.
Since its Independence, India has won only 4 individual Olympic medals (K.D. Jhadav for Wrestling, K. Malleshwari for weightlifting, R. Rathore for shooting and yours truly for tennis). We won a hockey gold way back in 1980! Currently we are ranked a lowly 157 in world football. Our excellence in swimming is limited to the SAF Games.
Is something missing in our strength as a nation? How do we address this issue?

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Answer 1

This issue is required to be dealt with at various stages.

Yes, India’s youth need lot of encouragement to achieve excellence in sports, firstly from the parents, secondly from the educational institutions, thirdly from the sponsor and the last but not the least from the provincial and the central Governments.

Roll of Parents: Now-a-days, parents are very much concerned with their children’s progress reports than any thing. They only want to see distinction marks in all the subjects in the progress reports of their children. They want to see their children as Engineers, Doctors, Scientists or administrators when they grow up. Their ultimate goal is to see their children earning Dollars in USA or Lakhs of Rupees in MNCs in India. The parents actually discourage their children from participating in games and sports thinking that it will hamper their studies and ultimately affect their career prospects. To a certain extent, their concern is justified because we see many a ex-sportsman who earned fame and medals for the country are in a poor condition struggling for their livelihood. The parents do not want to see their children in that condition. If at all some parents are interested, they are not in a position to spend for the education as well as sports simultaneously for their children. Here comes the roll of sponsor. Even when some parents venture to encourage their children in sports and games they are not confidant that the talent in their children is recognized by the concerned authorities and they get their due representation in state level, National level and International level events due the obvious reasons of favouritism, influence, politics so on so forth.

Here, everybody is forgetting one factor. Without sports and games we cannot produce healthy youth because the sports and games are useful for the healthy growth and development of body and mind. In a way, we are sacrificing the health of our children by not exposing them to sports and games. The sports and games help in improving blood circulation, muscle building and sharpen the brain. Yes, for a healthy brain, a healthy body is required. Lack of sporting activity in school and college days is one of the important reasons why the youth in their thirties itself are becoming susceptible to so many circulatory and heart problems in our country. So, is it not necessary that the parent’s attitudes should change?

Educational Institutions: How many of our present day educational institutions are having play grounds attached to them? In our childhood days our progress reports or the records given at the end of the academic year used to contain grades of our talent and proficiency in sports and games along with the marks obtained in subjects. Right from the pull-ups, 100mtr. Dash, long-jump, high-jump and other sports activities. Football and Hokey were very famous along with Baseball, Volley-ball, Basket-ball, Badminton and even Tennicoit. Students up to the college level used to play games in the evening and then only they return home. That scene is not to be seen today. The Sports Day used to be celebrated before the School or College Day. These things are gradually disappearing from the schools. Now the school children are over burdened with home work so that they have to run home to finish the home work. Where do they find time to play? In the colleges there is stiff competition to score not less than nineties and then to prepare for the entrance examinations for professional courses. How to change this situation? The school curriculum should be changed to make sports and games compulsory.

Roll of the Sponsors: These days there has been lot of talent search to pick up bright students suitable for jobs right from the colleges by several MNCs as well as Indian Companies. Who comes in search of talent in sports? Yes, the sponsors make a queue when some one becomes popular in some sport or the other. The major factor blocking the talent in other sports in our country is the game of Cricket. All the print media and Television Channels promote cricket only. They conduct programmes lasting for hours with the cricketers and the expert commentators. No need to say about day long live telecasts of the cricket matches and the waste of time to many a people. The BCCI earns thousands of crores of rupees because the people are so addicted to the game of cricket even though our cricket team disappoints the people so badly with their performance by losing the matches which any other team in the world could have won easily. Our people are satisfied with occasional wins by our cricket team. People are not behind any other game except cricket and same case with the sponsors. There is very less money in other games and sports in our country. If the huge money earned by the Cricket Board is partially spared for the promotion of other sports no other sponsor is needed. A country with 100 Billion people with a few individual medals in Olympics over a period of 60 years of independence. What a pity! Therefore, the companies apart from running after cricket celebrities should come forward to pick up young talent in other sports, adopt them, extend necessary facilities to the young talent so that they could win medals for the country in the international events and bring pride for the country and for them. The Govt. may give some exemptions to the companies in IT etc., for this purpose.

Roll of the Government: Best facilities are required for producing a best sportsman. The Govt. should come forward to build good avenues for the development of sports and games in our country. The funds allotted to the sports ministry in various States and the Union Government is always megre.The Governments do not feel it necessary or important to provide adequate funds for sports. Even the funds allotted are seldom spent properly. The Sports Authorities in many states are mere ornamental organizations. They should be filled with people who have adequate knowledge of sports and interest to promote sports. Even there are some active persons, what can they do with megre funds?

So, this is the situation in our country which requires reforms at all the above levels so that the Indian youth can be encouraged to achieve excellence in sports. Is it possible in the present situation? Yes, we must be optimistic we are witnessing fast changes in each and every field in our country towards the betterment and why it should not hold good in case of sports also? May our youth achieve par excellence in sports in the days to come.

Answer 2

Yes sir i go with you on the point that guys are now spending much time infront of the computers. This is the case in the cities. But how about the people in the villages.
They don't do like the urbans.Children from those area do spend much time in physical activities like swimming in the river, playing cricket. So we must go and converse the importance of the growth of sports in our nation. Moreover the physical fittness and stamina of the village people will be far better than the urbans since people in cities consume more fast foods nowadays which degrades the health wheras they are the ones who consume much more vegetables, protien and vitamin rich foods.
Just like the share markets, currency and IT industries, sports is also a field where India must have a boom which will realize the impact of India in the national progress.
The only way to divert the current children in the cities is the physical fittness centres which is becoming much popular nowadays among the people in the metropolitan and cosmopolitan cities because you can't ask the children to stop sitting infront of TV ultimately.This has reached the middle and the old age people but not much about the youngsters.
Another idea is the government must pass an ordinance that here after every school and college student must participate in any one sport compulsarily so that no one can avoid the sports field as a whole and eventually you can find the shining gems easily from the whole lot and send the best for the main events unless no politics is done among the higher authorities of sports. Because if someone comes with a higher recommendation who does not has enough talent than the best person who has no recommendation he would be seleced by them and will eventually fail in the tournaments.
So i wish india would shine in the sports and this is surely not possible unless there is a helping hand from the government.
All the best to you in your big task. JAI HIND!!!

Answer 3

Dear Leander,
An individual can not become a sport star in day or even a year. For a country to be at par with international level takes much more but it’s never too late. It takes years of hard work and dedication. I am sure you know this much more than anyone. I've watched you practice during your school days at MCC, Chennai in temperatures over 35c.
Firstly, we need to start an young age. The children need the initial ‘push’ or motivation from the parents. Also Schools should start building sports infrastructure for the children.
Secondly, there should be passion for the sport. The child should be encouraged to play the game for the fun of it. Some parents put a lot of pressure on their children to achieve very high and sometimes unrealistic goals.
Thirdly, the media needs to play a vital role to bring sports culture into our society. Every small game or tournament in rural areas of India needs to be covered by media. Young sportspersons should be encouraged at the very grass roots.

I run a small tennis academy in Tirunelvelli, a small town down south in Tamil Nadu. When I built the first 2 clay courts, I was very skeptical if children will take up the sport. Today, after almost an year, I have over 40 kids playing tennis and two kids have started playing competitive tennis. I think we all need to give back something for our children and youth. It does n’t matter what sport but as long as keep encouraging our children the medals will keep coming.
Come on India, Lets roll !!!

Good Luck to you Leander.
Dinesh

Answer 4

The root cause is poverty and social inequality. Taking India's population into account we can definitely produce excellent sports persons by following the principle "Catch them young". "Iqbal" movie is a wonderful example to depict the amount of struggle and will power that any individual requires if at all he or she wishes to excel. The Government can and should definitely do a lot in this regard. As long as cheap politics, caste feeling and the social inequality exists it is not possible. The Parents and the Teachers also must play an important role in identifying the children who inherently have a zeal to excel in sports. Secondly we have to induce interest in capable children who have the potential. If Indian Government and we the Indians start giving importance to all the sports on par with cricket only then something would be possible.

The policy should be on the lines of adopting a child to be groomed as a sportsperson in whatever field the child can excel. The child's alround development should be taken care of. Parents and the School authorities must not misuse the facilities in various forms that could be extended. Employment opportunities and handsome take home pay if offered then definitely people will come forward. When everything else that is required to live a contentful life is taken care of by the Government what else an individual will require? Political influence and any sort of interference should not be tolerated. Will this happen? Yes. If we want we can make this happen.

Answer 5

The only way I can see that India is going to reach any where in sport is with Passion. Children must be given a passion not something that they are forced to do but something they just can't live without. It should be something that make their life worth living. This Passion must be developed at a young age and it will grow if the right stuff is given to the right person and at the right time.
There is also the issue of facilities, as myself am a tennis player and have played abroad and in India I have seen both sides of the world and for my point of view. The facilities and consistency in India is lacking.
Education also comes into play. From my experience I have seen that in Indian education is set at a level where anything else doesn't matter. Who every you may be what ever your passion is, there is nothing greater than education and there is nothing else you are allowed to do other than education. So in a way sports is discouraged in many ways.
Last but now least is the exposure that Indian sports men don't get when they are really good at what they do. The people with a lot of talent do not get recognized. There is too much concentration on cricket and not other sports such as baseball, basketball, volleyball, boxing.... Now a days, sports channels even give tips to students of cricket on batting and bowling. However this kind of attention is not there is tennis, football.

Answer 6

Hello to everyone who may spend their precious time reading this article and I am very sorry to say that we are a developing country and still lagging behind in the race of sports comparing to other small and under-developed countries.
Unfortunately we have got a lot of talent in sports (how can we not find in a population of more than 100 million+) but still there are lots of factors that are blocking ways of these talented sportsperson.
First of all basic facilites like fields, infrastructure,training equipments,quality coaching,finance are lacking or does not reach the designated sportsperson.
Second thing is while selecting players Godfather plays an important role in the selection and this is the main reason the Good and Talented sportspersons are left behind because they dont have any Godfather or anybody backing them up or they cannot fulfill the demands of the selectors .
Third thing is the age factor where over-age players are fielded instead of the under-age players in the tournament and definelty the over-age players/team will won the game and then the level of the game is demolished and new comers are never let to come up and show their talent.
I was also a Best football player in my age section and in my state Maharashtra but all the above factors were responsible for careerer demolition.
Now when i look back and see the situation has not changed and If somebody is ready to make changes or do a revolt they throw him out eg. Dhanraj Pillay,
Some revolution must take place in India in the section of Sports and new Programme must be developed to overcome all these bad obstacles to see India emerge as a nation victorious in sports

Answer 7

I would start my answer with a line from your question "sport is not a popular part of Indian culture". This, I believe is the first and foremost reason for our condition in sports, though there are other reasons too. What is right or wrong for the younger generation is often defined by the elders of the family, which in this case, is that children are never encouraged to take up sports as a career. And without showing serious interest or taking up a particular sport as a career it is not possible to beat the world in it. Here, sadly but not surprisingly 'my child will become an engineer\doctor' still is the motto of the family. Sport is just taken as a leisure activity, something children can spend hour in the evening on. This is about the grassroots level. The sportsmen who break through all barriers and become national level playes have their own problems. After the asiad Jaspal Rana gave a statement that 'for olympic medals we would need new coaches and cartridges'. Our players fail dope tests. Various sport federations are controlled by politicians or people who have never played the sport. The funding and infrastructure for sports in increasing but is still way below world standards.

No, there is nothing missing in our strength as a nation, what is missing is in the mind and in the way of thinking. We have to make the older generation believe that their children are talented and can take up sport as a career. On the other side we have to give former sportsmen a large role in the governing of sports, and make them answerable for their decesions, because they know the ground realities, unlike the present staff who are neither answerable nor aware of the realities. We should adopt models which are used by good sporting countries, if our models fail to work. Finally sports funding should reach the sportsmen and sportswomen, not siphoned off on the way.

Answer 8

In sports, character, value, physical and mental strength are all challenged in a short span of time. Sports can tell us a lot about ourselves as individuals and as a society. Yet, apart from a fanatic obsession with Cricket, we have very little to show for our passion in sports. While there is certainly better infrastructure available today, sport is not a popular part of Indian culture. Instead of joining sports teams or athletic games, many children are spending countless hours in front of TV screens and video games.

Answer 9

Leander, If you ever read this ( although I doubt anyone will read 500 answers LOL) Role models are needed in every sport to become popular. Having said that, India is an ignorant nation collectively and the paying public is easily manupilated by vested interests in the sports bodies and Business houses through the media.

Even our obsession with cricket is misplaced as we are only kings at our home turf and will never get ahead of Australia, NZ or RSA. It is a good thing that the USA and the rest of Europe did not take up cricket as then India would be closer to the bottom. Our selection process, ex cricketers, administrators agenda is to take rather than give anything back to the game. Forget winning the WC consistently or becoming number one. The average fan is a misinformed emotional fool.

Look at our own Sania Mirza, why does she have so many injuries? How come you guys are not as strong as your European, Australian or Russian opponents? It is because of Poor Physical training, too much junior Tennis, Poor Diet and a lousy environment.

Lets face it, we are just fooling each other in India and this QA session is a joke.

Answer 10

To me there is very clear answer to this question. I've sat years watching my dad watch cricket and always wonder why it is that we do not have youth excelling in other sports and I realised this. In school in India, we are encouraged to play various sports, but the minute we leave high school, for most, life gets too "serious". Sports are not given the importance they should. To a normal indian, to have a good future as a hockey or rugby player seems bleak due to the lack of govt and monetary support. I believe that we indians have the ability of coming up in sports everywhere, if sports as a subject, is backed up as seriously as medicine or law. It is the fear or not being able to survive in the real world that doesnt allow many to live their dreams. So instead of spending hours a day weightlifting or playing soccer, I will go to college and become another accountant. Hey, atleast this way, I know my family and I wont starve. The day 'Sports' is a STRONG part of our curriculum and our lives in India, we will win many medals just like we have in Tennis today. All we need is a strong backbone through our leaders. Maybe the leading sports people should enforce this as a team. No one can speak better than them after all they are a true exampe of the potential Indian youth have once given the chance. No one can make change better than you, Mr. Paes.

Answer 11

The problem is required to be attempted as follows:

At the school and college levels, the participation of the students should be made compulsory. This will help change mentality of people at large rendering very long term advantage. It should be imbibed on to the minds of the Youth that sports do help making the life merrier.

At other social levels, the organisation of different sports competitions be made. Promotion by Universities and Government(State and Centre) is very much necessary. Necessary funds should be allocated. Separate Sports Directors should be appointed to look after the growth of Sports.

Sports colleges may be formed. The graduates therefrom be given job opportunities in private and public sectors.

Through tax i.e. fiscal measures also, the promotion of sports can take place. For example, the donation to Sports Authorities may be granted Special Tax concessions.

Sponsorships would flow for all games provided popularity of all games increases as in the case of Cricket. Hence the question "How and Why Cricketers earn large popularity and money" be answered very analytically and objectively.

Many solutions would emerge from there.