My Fave Topic - Billion Strong Nation and No Olympic Gold?

As promised, I am here for blabbering some serious stuff. And if its sports that perk you up, then this sure is a must read for you. For a long time this topic has been a fave for GDs. And the resulting discussions are sometimes, hilarious, to say the least. What with even TOI(Times Of India for the uninitiated) floating a theory of our genes to be blamed for the sporting debacle. Hello, excuse me plz. Let me have my say too.

How many of my fellow indians are aware that even Leander Paes was a junior wimbledon champion? Ok, some may be aware of that fact. But how many of us know that PT Usha's running timing at the age of 18 was comparable to that of Marion Jones at the same age. Now does this have any relation to the question. It sure has if we try to find out why Paes and Usha couldnt acheive what their contemporaries could. Now plz dont take me wrong that both these great athletes didnt acheive anything great. I am saying in relation to their fellow contemporaries at the world stage. To lay a bit more emphasis on the point i am trying to make, let me add that Federer too was a junior wimbledon champ. The enthusiasts can google to get more info on this.

The answer aint a complicated one but yeah.....the implementation, sure is. Where is the sports structure here? Is sports a viable career option out here? It maybe, but only for a few affluent ones. And as long as it doesnt become one for the common man, i dont see how we can win gold medals consistently. Well, we may have some sania's coming in between though. Do you have an iota of knowledge how costly pursuing tennis as a career can be? Just to throw some light, i read that sania's training costs for a year mount to arnd 45/50 lakhs. Do we really have that might? Thats the kind of money it takes to create a champion apart from, of course, the commitment, determination blah blah...... But the point is u need a platform. That is one of the major reason why our folks are not aware of the other girls such as Sonal Phadke, Radhika Tulpule in indian tennis who were quite a match to sania just a few years back.

Of course, the media too is pretty irresponsible out here. Just to prove my point, you will see all the newspapers and news channles write about the sports affairs pre and post olympics. Why not take these issues at this point? Come 2008 olympics and TOI will carry out an article some 15/20 days prior to the Games about our sorry state of affairs. Why not carry out articles on Saina Nehwal, the new kid on the block, who is beleived to take the indian badminton to a new high.

And i have a grudge against our esteemed IIMs too. They often give this topic for GD. Instead, why not go a step further and start a sports mgmt course where people like me can enroll. Why not tie up with the associations and impart the necessary training to the fellow "babus" who are handling the sports and thereby dilly-dallying with the future of aspiring champs. Well, lets leave this for another post some other time.

Coming to the answer part, set the management right first. Get the right people at the right places. Give them some time for their ideas to be implemented. Of course, pay them what they deserve. People like me want to desperately get into the "system". But do we have an avenue? Can i get an assurance that i neednt worry about my economy and concentrate on my work - sports management. Sorry sorry......is it sounding more like a crib? Whom am i telling to set the things right? Its we as a nation who have a job on our hands if we are genuinely serious about our sports. If not, then please never ask why the hell cant we win a single gold when even nations unheard of, can get one. Thats the least thing u can do as a responsible indian citizen.

Well lagata....jyada ho raha hain......let me save some for the remaining posts. This is just a beginning of a series of articles to be featured right here on KhelNayak. I promise that u folks will be amongst the first ones to get a first-hand knowledge about indian sports. Wait for my next article. Do leave your comments.