Delving deep down the old memories, I was shortlisted to represent Assam for the very first time at an upcoming Nationals; my heart was filled with joy and expectations. I rushed to the principal’s office to ask for a leave, hoped to get some encouragement and well wishes along with a slight pat on the back. My expectations faded within moments as his eyes gazed upon me with a quizzical look. “So many days of absence, are academics a joke for you?” I was a kid back then, not matured enough to understand the deep bondage between sports and education, I was eager to play and engulf myself in a long and enthusiastic journey.
Years have passed trying to juggle between my academics and sports career. It was painstakingly difficult to balance the number graph; fluctuations were always evident. Experience taught me that balancing between academics and sports is a conflict for every sportsperson, not just my personal struggle. A few years back a student from St. Stephens College; Unmukt Chand was barred from writing his examination, even after winning the under 19 cricket world cup in 2012. It was clear that his attendance fell way below the required percentage. He was later allowed to give the examination only after the high court intervened.
Sports have become a multi billion-dollar industry since globalization. Primitive pasture games relying on balls of rocks, rags, feathers have transformed into global events with intricate rules. The world of sports has been radically globalized. Any sport can now attract players or audiences in any part of the world. Sport’s purpose is no longer limited to entertainment; it has become a major aspect of trade, business, and politics. Since talent, speed and innovation are recognized in transnational business, top players are transforming themselves into global icons. Sports have become a means of livelihood, if one has the talent; one has the capability to make it big in the market. Nowadays, Indians wearing NFL hats or football jerseys have become a common sight. The process of globalization has transformed our culture as well. Globalization of sports has brought people from different communities together; it has become a great tool for cultural homogenization. It doesn’t matter if a person is from Barcelona or Delhi, who doesn’t like to watch Messi’s sorcery in the field?
When we talk about sports in India, Cricket is all that comes to our mind. But according to a survey, about 300 million people watched the ISL in 2016. In recent years, there has been a rise in other sports leagues such as the Pro Kabbadi, Premier Badminton League, etc. Even when a large number of people are virtually connected to other sports, we haven’t been able to create a strong impact in the international arena apart from cricket. The world’s second-most populous nation has the worst Olympic record in terms of medals per head. In the past three decades, we managed only one gold medal. The Government of India invests a huge amount of money in organizing mega-events such as the Commonwealth Games, Asian Championship, World Cup but still our performance has consistently been unsatisfactory.
When one compares India with the rest of the world, especially third world countries such as China and Brazil, it’s quite evident that we stand nowhere. Leave aside the Olympic performance; we still haven’t been able to make a mark in the international arena. There are a few exceptions though; P.V Sindhu, Mary Kom, Abhinav Bindra, Sushil Kumar, Vijender Singh with their personal effort, they made it big and became an inspiration for the young budding players. How much of credit goes to their individual effort and the State’s effort is a debatable issue. It’s time to think about why the majority of us are still struggling to mark a presence at the Olympics. Just criticizing the players is not the solution. There has always been a lack of sports culture in our society, the concept of sports as a profession is new to us. Majority of the people got exposed to the sports culture only after the economic liberalization in 1991. We never considered it as a part of our development agenda. Indian parents are unable to conceive sports as an alternative to academic education; they are unaware of the booming sports industry throughout the globe. Things can only improve when we change our attitude and it can only happen when people are educated about the importance of sports in the contemporary world. We still consider it a co-curricular activity rather than an extra-curricular field. Our educational system is yet to consider sports as its core foundation.
There are numerous reasons why sports have been neglected by our educational systems; some of them are as follows: One of the root problems is ineffective participation, arising from the difficulties in gaining access to serious training centers. Much of the country’s talent remains undetected for this particular reason. It takes a degree of privilege to be a serious competitor. Even though the government allocates resources for the development of sports in our country, due to lack of proper infrastructure, most of the players do not get access to decent playing facilities. Most Government schools don’t have proper classrooms, leave aside sports facilities. Even in private schools, apart from cricket fields, there are very limited options for a student to explore. Many schools and colleges are not able to promote sports and provide proper access to playing equipment.
In India, most of the national level competitions are organized solely by government administration. There is a lack of private sponsorship which leads to less participation. People don’t want to participate in these tournaments as the prize money awarded to the athletes is minuscule. In the United States, University leagues are considered to be major events, students and the college administration often take these leagues seriously as they are broadcasted in the national television and the amount of prize money is also attractive. In India, since there are no such initiatives, the college and school administration do not take these tournaments seriously. Just providing facilities won’t do any good if there is no rise in viewership. Apart from cricket, all sports policies are initiated and directed by the government. It must allow private enterprise to enter and organize national level competitions so that there is an increase in the viewership as well as participation among the students.
Lack of sports culture is perhaps the most important reason for the negligence of sports in our educational system. From early on, parents indulge their child in sports activities solely for physical well-being. Even though there are exceptions, the society as a whole does not consider sports as a viable career option. Even if interest arises in the student, they are often skeptical about considering it as their primary goal in life. Our educational system has failed to encourage youngsters to pursue sports as a career. Students often get into the rat race for scoring good marks; they consider it as the only way to get a good life.
The field of sports is neglected in our system because we the people do not create the incentives to make a mark on it. Cricket is popular in India because we, the people support it religiously inconsequential of the team’s results. It doesn’t matter whether the team wins or lose, there is always a craze for the sport. People have failed to recognize that sports play an important role in determining a nation’s development. Indians have always criticized the players for failing to bring medals but it is the common people who are responsible for this downfall. If we are not able to inculcate the confidence in our athletes, how can we expect them to do their jobs well?
This article was published in the Assam Tribune on Sunday, 24th December 2017
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Akash Barua 