Although this article has been written in right spirit which calls all of us for building better sports future of India,however besides all these factors highlighted,writer has missed one most important factor.Involvement of sports development authorities!We had had sports ministers and various sports bodies for longer time than most of the other nations.They are so called democratically elected too!But their invlovement in performing duties has remained shady always.A country which is second most populous on earth has failed so far to even make it to the olympic table.Various sports has been slowly killed over the years while nation,political leadership,govt and more importantly media has watched silently.Recent examples of ouster of KPS Gill & more than required interest of top notch politicians like Sharad Pawar,Laloo yadav in cricket should be the eye opener to us! While selecting teams for competitions aborad all possible frauds and corruptions happen rampantly here. Regionalism,money power often dominates natural talent at top levels and this has slowly discouraged sportsmen growing their career beyond a point.We also produce potential sportsmen at school level but most of them aim to get some regular job on sports quota with various Govt and PSU undertakings! I know one school in Gumala viz.St.Ignatius which has won Hockey and football national championships not once but most of the times than any other school in india..but we dont find those players in national lev
Many countries (including China) have dedicated team exclusively focusing on upcoming Olympics. This used to be very common for communist nations. Why cant India have a strategy and leadership for upcoming Olympics? Why cant we focus on areas we can compete immediately with great training (short term picture) and areas we can grow and win Gold medals down the line (long term)? There are medal rich sports – swimming, gymnastics as an example – that offers opportunities to win more medals. Talent is there and it is matter of honing it with best coaches in world.
Re: Shouldnt we have Olympic plans for 2012 now?
by vinay kumar thakur on Aug 28, 2008 07:02 PM
Dear when you talk about countries focusing on olympic communications..it is govt who does so! Has anyone questioned our sports minister or presidents of variuous sports authorities for shamefull performances in sports??
Shoudn't the 'Sport IIT's have reservation as well ? Ask Arjun Singh and the DMK - they will support the cause. Thinking about, 'Reservation' would be a good bait for the govt. to start the Sport IITs
Re: Reservation in the Sports IITs
by tekas on Aug 28, 2008 06:47 PM
Talking about reservation... There will be women's rights groups and political parties that demand 50% reservation for women in that sports IITs as they compete equally in Olympics...
But SP will block such an effort fearing that this virus could spread to the Parliament as well
I am glad for the first time Indians are giving good ideas to improve olympic performance. This is just the start and hope some key people in INdia take note of it. Jai Hind.
Re: I am glad we are exchanging good ideas
by Reeva Patel on Aug 28, 2008 06:44 PM
This is not first time good ideas are being spread. You were sleeping like Kumbhkarna it seems. India is never short of ideas. When it comes to planning and execution, things get messy. There were number of columns on Rediff itself on elevating our sports. Betterment of India can begin NOW with your changed attitude.
Olympic Golds for India are as important as its GDP growth. India needs confidence, pride, drama in their lives. This is what will bring the country together, emulate respect for the ordinary Indian and more importantly bring India the grass root recognition. If you dont show sporting passion, chances are you dont have any spirit.
Has anyone heard about a non-descript school in Haryana called MNSS, RAI (abbreviation for Motilal Nehru Sports School). In a country where academic prowess is the sole means of earning bread and better, we can really hope very less in terms in sports. Why are we forgetting that Abhinav Bindra's gold medal is a result of his toil of 8 years, huge funding from his father (which the Indian Govt should have taken care of). Infrastructure, international standard Stadiums (Emphatically YPS, Patiala has the only International standard stadium amongst schools in North India). We need our Govt to be more pro-active, instead of showering rewards worth crores on the 3 medalists, a part of the money needs to be spent on Sports Schools, sponsoring budding athletes (Even Vijender had to suffer because of lack of sponsorship), build infrastructure. Come on people, 1.2 Billion people deserve better than 1 Gold, 2 Bronze's, don't we...
Re: IIS's.. well we already have them!!!
by vinay kumar thakur on Aug 28, 2008 07:06 PM
Govt of India under sports ministry spends huge money on sports development every year but unfortunately on papers only.A strong axis of powerful politicians and elected presidents of various sports bodies silently eat this money!Nobody notices,no media highlights these corruption,nobody even questions these people! Media must come up with KPS Gill type of stories more often and across various sports bodies!
Re: IIS's.. well we already have them!!!
by Calspadeaspade on Aug 28, 2008 06:09 PM
I agree with most of what you are saying. But Indian GIVT can not put all the money for olympic medals. India is poor democratin nation and not a totalitarian nation. If funding and passion comes from other sources it should be encouraged. Corporations can be given tax advantage if they do something for olympic sports(not cricket).
