Grassroot Sports in India : A myth? (Part 2)

We very well know how we were motivated to play sports in our younger days. Nowadays, its even more tough for a kid to go and play outside. Parents would prefer to send their children to tuition classes or make them sit at home and study. Although they would not mind if the kids play on their desktops/laptops the whole day ,which takes a toll on their health as well. As I have mentioned in my previous post, creating a league and making it glamorous will not motivate our children to take up a sports of their interest. Proper grassroots planning and evaluation are need of the hour to develop budding players. When I am speaking of grassroots, I am speaking of the age group between 8-14 years.

             Developing grassroots are more important than developing a senior team. Why? The reason is simple: Senior team players are matured and have little scope of improvement, neither of which is  happening in our country. Let us take the case of football. The FIFA ranking of our national team is 152 ( as per latest rankings). Their has been no plan what-so-ever for improving the rank of the National team as well as to improve the grassroots condition. Who to blame? The self crowned custodians of Football, the officials of the federation or the lack of enthusiasm of some  politicians at the highest level. 

              You very well know the U-17 FIFA World Cup will be hosted by India. For that, a team is "built". How much success this youth team will attain , the world cup and time will tell. This team was being built from 2014 onward following massive trials at various cities around the country. Its less than one year to go for the world cup, according to reports coach Nicoli Adams wants to conduct trials even abroad. This is the condition of youth development and sports, that despite having a huge pool of talent, we have to look for our players even in a different country. If we had a proper youth plan , this would not have happened. 

               The same goes for other sports as well. What needs to be done, is to encourage schools to take up sports seriously, not just to win or participate in a tournament. Schools can mould/create a lot of youth players who can contribute to our senior teams in future be it at athletics, football, cricket, tennis etc. But as they say studies are more important. Honestly, there is a way to streamline both studies and sports. There are many school sports events conducted by CBSE and KVS, students should be motivated to participate in such events. 

              That's all for today!

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My previous post on Grassroot Sports in India was published in my personal blog, which I have imported here as well and can be read here : http://hivsports.blogspot.in/2016/07/grassroot-sports-in-india-myth-part-1.html

 

 Picture Courtesy : Google Images , upadhyay.co

 

Grassroot sports in India : A myth? (PART 1)

We will have yet another season of Indian Super League (ISL) , the pro kabadi league, new Pro wrestling League and also the Badminton league. They have surely garnered huge TRP’s and had large number of spectators attending the matches but the question is how much have they contributed to “Indian Sports”?  The answer to this question is a big NO.

There are various reasons to why my answer or any other person closely following Indian sports (except Badminton in this context) will agree to a NO.Why is Badminton being excluded, is because badminton is a properly structured sport in India and lots of initiative have been taken to develop the game. Others? No again. There’s has been a misconception, that if a sport is popularised it will be developed and will trickle down the grassroots. Wait? Grassroots? Most of us don’t know that term. I will go to that later on.

Not all sport in our country is same as cricket. The other sports need not have a cash minting two-three months overly hyped celebrity funded league or so-called tournament. What we require is a properly structured grassroots program and organised competitive environment. Grassroots are the program which are undertaken for developing under-8’s to under under-13’s. Its a common knowledge not all sport person in India have got proper coaching till he/ she reached an age of 13-15 , which is way above of the grassroots program. The disadvantage they have to suffer( many will agree) is to face the competitive environment be it at the state level, district level , zonal or national level and the level of fitness when they gradually advance through various age groups. Also one of the major reason of our failure in sports is age fraud ( a separate post will be dedicated to it).

How many of us know that India has a football league other than the Indian Super League: it goes by the name of I-league. Not many know about that.Why? No celebrities??No big names?  My verdict: I-league has failed to attract the children to make football a potential sporting career. Hence, reason of its slow pace and low attendance. Same is the case is with other sports. In India , parents think fifty times before letting their children join a coaching academy (read sports academy). The reason being: a proper roadmap is not shown by the authorities. While, fitness and the amount the child can achieve from various coaching programs depends on the child him/herself. To attract the sport is the sole responsibilty of the authorities.

To develop a sport , big tournaments are not required. Sure they will attract a lot of audiences but also should have a road map to develop the interest among the children. Recently, I overheard a lady who wants her children to study in an only academic background school. Now,this “only academic” mindset should be eliminated. Not all children can become sportstars, not everyone can become researchers/scientists as well. Also, we are only taught to do jobs since our childhood. Not, make something of our own or do something of our own. I will not go into the those in this post.

Most amount of care in sports education should be taken. Proper diet should be prescribed and should be taught in a routine. Children should be inspired to adopt a sport.But , we are inspired/ inspire to get admission into an IIT/AIIMS and later do a good job with hefty salaries. That is all right, acceptable we need doctor’s and engineers. But,through sports we can actually judge the character of a person and overall a country. Let us set long term goals in developing a sport rather than have a short tournament.

My main aim in this post was to highlight our country’s  sports. We shall talk more about it in successive posts.

(picture courtesy : Sportskeeda)

Author : Gaurav Sonowal (sonogaurav94.wordpress.com) 

Do mail us at hivsportsarmada@gmail.com for queries and the same if you want your articles to be published.

Why second half of 2016 is just too cool for the sporting calender?

Yes, the first half of 2016 has been an exciting journey for sports lovers. Be it the nail biting ICC world cup finish, the unexpected Barclay's Premier League to finish by Leicester City, the top three clash of the La Liga or the Wimbledon, or the unexpected Euro Cup win by Portugal, we don't expect less, do we? Well, the second half of 2016 will be even more exciting with so much at stake for the teams.

Let us look at the top events we will get to experience in the next few months:

1. Rio Olympics, 2016 :

 Event Date : 5th August, 2016 to 21st August, 2016

While the Football events will start beforehand on 3rd August, 2016, the Olympics will be officially declared open on 5th August. More than 10,000 athletes will take part in 28 sports and a total of 41 disciplines and 306 events. It surely will be a big extravaganza as all our favorite sports will be clubbed into one tournament. Stakes are high as the athletes will be playing for their nations pride as well.

In 2012 London Olympics, USA topped the charts with 46 gold medals. It would be quite exciting to see who fares better this time.

Mascots : Vinicius and Tom 

2. Barclay's Premier League :

Last season, we all know how was the Barclay's Premier League 2015 ride. There were lots of manager changes last season, the first casualty being Jose Mourinho and the latest being Louis Van Gaal. It was a mouth watering and tensed season as Leicester City trounced all our favorite teams to claim the title, Arsenal with the second spot, a slight shift from the conventional four. Manchester United, Manchester City , Chelsea and Liverpool are with new coaches (Jurgen Klopp started the last season midway), all big names in world of football.

It would be mouth watering to see how Jose Mourinho rejuvenates the ManUtd team and also Leicester City defend the title.

Season Starts on : 13th August, 2016 

3. US Open :

 Event Date : 29th August, 2016 to 11th September, 2016

Straight 8 days after the Olympics draw to a closure , the US open is on the charts. For tennis enthusiasts, it is going to be treat whether Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer keep their form or will we see another surprise this US open as well.     

4. UEFA Champions League :

  
  Season Starts on : 13th September onwards  

  Although the qualifiers for the UEFA Champions League have already started, Group stage starts from 13th September and the draw to be held on 26th August. It will be treat to watch Real Madrid defend the title as we will see several new teams joining the UCL this season ,one of them is Leicester City. Last seaon, the finals were a Madrid derby at a neutral venue.  With Carlo Ancelotti being named the Bayern Munich coach, it will be awesome to see how they face the champions. The last two season saw Spanish team winning the UCL, will see new champs from England? That is a big question

5. Cricket

    Best Action : October, 2016 - December,2016

 The cricketing action takes place from October onward as New Zealand and England tour India. India tour of West Indies is due to kick off on 21st July. Pakistan is touring England, it is action packed season coming up. But the best action remains in the October - December slot of the year. So, cricket lovers circle your dates , you don't want to miss this.

  

   Many more sports events are coming up this year, which we have not discussed here. We will bring you latest happenings from the world of sports. 

Do mail us at hivsportsarmada@gmail.com for queries and the same if you want your articles to be published.


Picture Courtesy : Google Images.