The Olympics Hangover

Author Rekha Gupta

We are still in the grip of the Olympics fever . As an audience that feeling of excitement before each match irrespective of the game, that exasperation during the match and the insane happiness ( or disappointment after) is an incomparable feeling, felt by millions across the country alike. Celebrating and rejoicing our seven medalists & mens hockey team ‘s wining the Bronze. As I write this, the Nation is Ecstatic about our star Neeraj chopra for winning a Gold and preparing to welcome and honour all the winners, returning home today (9th august).

Yet amidst all the euphoria ,there is a thought looming somewhere at the back of our heads each time, which is- why the 2nd most populous country has not won as many medals as it should have ? Despite all these medals, the irony is that ”yeh dil mangay more”.C@Rg

We all know that while sports is not a top priority in India but when there is an event like Asian games or Olympics then the whole nation’s interest & love suddenly soars up sky high, and that every athlete should win a Gold or a silver at least is the most natural expectation of all of us.😸

While winning a bronze medal by the Mens hockey team makes us teary eyed and takes us back to Major Dhyan Chand ji and his magical legacy ,one can’t help wonder why it took our team 41 years to do that. In a game we exceled in, in a game which is our national game. Was it the change to artificial turf from grass which our players couldn’t acclimatize to in so many years ?

Abhinav Bindra won a Gold for the men’s 10 meter air rifle event in 2008 olympics.This was so inspiring for many particularly as it opened avenues in a totally new game category. Yet India has never won anything in this category again .

It’s not easy to bring up the same old woes of our state of affairs, cliched subject of poor sports infrastructure but when you still hear in 2021 about –Captain Rani Rampal whose father earned a mere Rs 80 on some days. She used to daily watch for hours at stretch, games being played in an academy near her home in a small village. Finally she got hold of a discarded hockey stick, then the coach refused to let her in the team as she was malnourished. This and many things later her journey took her, to the teams incredible performance in the Olympics, defeating Australia and entering the semi finals.C@Rg

Now think about it, Isn’t this a familiar story too? Haven’t we heard this so many times? From different players, different athletes across the nation.Yet here we are as a nation, listening to it all over…and this is the story of not one player but most of them …..

The biggest reason is obviously money and the mindset of parents ,society and the system that makes it only worse for any child who wants to pursue a particular game as a career….

In a country like ours it goes without saying that education holds prime importance for any family, and rightfully so as the career options are plentiful, future is secured. Sports in such a situation is of little relevance. A small miniscule population of parents support a child in his endeavour to pursue a sport ,then this support is not extended by their community or the immediate society and sometime sheer lack of facilities or know how about the entire system is ambiguous. There is lack of awareness and guidance in the sports arena in terms of career and how one can go about pursuing it.

Let us talk more specifically now. Much of the Indian population lives in the villages, and needless to say the brightest of talent emerges from remote villages where in addition to basic primary education, sports forms a big form of entertainment. Some sports like athletics, hockey etc. comes more naturally to these children. Now the problem arises when these immensely talented players want to pursue these sports at state level or take it further and dedicate few years of their lives to it…..there is a complete blank. At the family level dedicating a resourceful member to sports in itself is a difficult task. Then a player and his family lack access to coaches & training facilities. There is no proper guidance or awareness as to how to go about it. To top it, these challenges are even more magnified for a girl player who is discouraged at every step from pursuing her passion in sports. C@Rg

While Government funding never reaches the grass root level, lack of private funding in a country where billionaires are in abundance ,is also a major deterrent. Why is it that while people flock to invest in IPL teams , they shy away from sports and players like these?

Lack of acceptance by family, society, community plays as a deterrent for any child player.

Let us first accept we all love sports like crazy more than we know or would want to believe ! Many of the games played presently, originated in India. Games/play comes naturally to us as games have been a part of our culture since time immemorial. Games/play runs in our DNA.

so some Remedial Measures that need to be taken now, for the next big event…..

Cricket despite not being our game, yet how we excel in it globally is phenomenal. One can only imagine how we will excel in games that have originated in our country and our embedded in our culture and come naturally to our children. These are games like Hockey, Javelin, Shot-put, Boxing, Wrestling, Weight lifting, Long jump, High jump,, Races etc…. All that is needed is the acceptance of family and society thereby marking a beginning in the correct direction.

Let us pause and think of the tears, sweat , grit ,dedication and passion of each of these players , the family ,the coach and so many more who are attached to him , dedicatedly preparing a player to play for India to win. All that we need is a collective mind shift : ”to acknowledge ,appreciate, cheer and celebrate a child who pursues a sport ,”create the same euphoria around him throughout his journey” , that is created only after a player wins.

Aspiring players from remote villages , probably do not even know the existence of Sports Authority of India and Athletics Federation of India, especially created to support players. Even if they do ,the journey from their village to the capital without much know how and no guidance is sure a humongous task . How about we reverse the process ? The Sports Authority to be proactive and seeking these promising players from the interiors of these villages ?

”Schools all over ,especially in villages” should be instructed to inform the sports authority when they spot a bright promising talent. And in the remotest of villages ,where there are no schools, the responsibility of spotting a talent should lie with the ”Gram Panchayat” . For this to be effective & get rolling, the government could offer a cash incentive to schools & Gram Panchayats on selection of a player that was spotted by them ( why else would they do it) .

We have model talent scout agencies. Why is it so difficult to have sports talent scout agencies and have people invest in them.

Companies line up to sign a winner medalist as their brand ambassador after the win . Why not reverse this process too? On spotting a promising sports person , let the company sponsor all the needs and expenses the game requires of the player to prepare him for the international arena and on winning the player will be the brand ambassador for the company for free ,for as many years as he was sponsored by the company, fair enough. If each company sponsors one player just imagine the number of players that will emerge to play for the country.

Any sport pursued individually is an expensive affair. First is the requirement of basic but complete sports gear and equipment/ that with practice sessions that go on for years and years , the cost is high & unaffordable .The current system of allocating sports funds is certainly flawed. The Government has to find ways to see that the funds reach every single aspiring talented player’s family directly .Funds be directed to the villages, the small cities, on coaches, on training facilities etc. If the infrastructure is in place, a lot of things will fall in place naturally. An Olympics Task force was launched in 2017 that is currently working in order to achieve all of the above.

New Beginnings were made at this Olympics Season all of which made this possible for us to experience the joy that we feel today!

After having addressed some nation wide campaign’s like ”beti bachao beti padhao”and several such other campaigns, government has now started a national level campaign of ‘ India Khelo’ much needed . This is not only a super way to motivate & encourage children to come out of their shells/homes but also ensures involvement of various organisations at several levels.

In gratitude always to our Soldiers & Indian Army for securing our borders ,keeping the Nation safe without a thought about their own lives and much beyond , that renders me short of words.Yet another great initiative taken by Indian Army was ”Mission Olympics Wings” to train promising sports person. Indian Army spotted Neeraj Chopra’s talent and thereafter in 2016 Neeraj was inducted into the Army in the Sports quota .He was was selected for training at the ”Mission Olympics Wing” and the Army sports institute.C@Rg

Odisha’s chief minister Naveen Patnaik is an extraordinary example to have sponsored the National men’s and women’s hockey teams ,from junior to senior levels for five years from 2018 which gave the sport the support it so needed.

The beginning of this Olympics was marked by honourable Modi ji addressing each individual player, congratulating & motivating them on participating at the international games thereby ”uplifting their spirits” before the commencement of the games . Needless to say, we witnessed a total different performance of not only our players but an equally enthusiastic audience engagement. Cash rewards were announced before the commencement of the games in recognition & respect towards years of hard work put in by a player. These were gestures unheard of in the past. But what really sealed Modi ji’s kindness and stature was his talking to Women’s Hockey team after they lost. It was a heart warming conversation that only a father can have with his children. He is seen addressing each one by their first name showing his and the country’s faith & pride intact in them. He is seen motivating, encouraging and ”lifting their spirits” again as a father does.Hence this level of involvement & encouragement of our PM Modi ji renders me speechless. Modi ji is has invited the players on the independence day celebrations at Red Fort and thereafter he shall be meeting and interacting with the players personally .

While I am almost through writing this article , an exclusive interview of 35 minutes with women’s hockey team is being aired on prime time with Sudhir Chaudhary (10th august) . This certainly is a first of its kind interview . The team’s players : each one teary eyed & overwhelmed by the honour ,tell their story and their journey of struggle, sweat & tears, from villages to Olympics . Such an honour & recognition , is a reaffirmation of the country’s faith in each of them that will make them believe in themselves more than ever before.

All the above gestures are truly applaudable and seem like a positive step in a much neglected area , in a much desired area, and with a population immensely talented as ours , I would like to believe that India will not only win more than double its medals in the very next international event but will continue to rise and shine. Let us revive the lost culture of sports and games. C@Rg

Such is the genuine interest of our Leader that a strong motivational message makes Paralympians create history by winning 5 Gold with record 19 Medals at Tokyo Paralympics as compared to 4 in the last Rio Paralympics. ( From its first Paralympics in 1968 to 2016 India had won 12 medals.) ( Updated 9.9.21)

Author Rekha Gupta

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