Sports Ecosystem in India: The Problem

The sports standard in India has shown a definitive improvement in the past years due to the increased participation in world’s sports events and equal opportunities for men, women, and people with physical disabilities have been given by authorities. But do you think that is enough? Where is the opportunity for improvement? Let’s dive right in.

Resources.

Schools and colleges are the places an individual gets identified on his talent in the sport. Adequate infrastructure, equipment, and human resources must be offered for every school and college as a reformative program.

Awareness.

Young children and teenagers must constantly be provided with the overall benefits of taking up sports from an early age and coaches should encourage their children to make them understand its importance. Sports is not only about winning medals but to ready our minds to show the best version of ourselves both on and off the field.

Talent Tracing/Scouting.

Scouts, talent tracers, and coaches must follow a specific mechanism to identify young talents without prejudice and offer them the option of improving in the said sport through a holistic approach to train, nurture and present them on international stages.

Coach Management.

For every sport, the head coach is the backbone of the whole sports system. An individual coach pursuant must be given all the training under the mentorship of great coaches and more professional development programs must be implemented. Furthermore, coaches must be paid well with an attractive salary package that helps clubs and teams retain their talent, which in turn needs more investment.

Monitoring.

Athletes who perform and train must continuously be monitored and their personal feedback must be respected and taken into consideration. They should also be provided with state-of-the-art equipment to train and to rest while off-training. Their diets must be constantly monitored as well and their fitness management must be recorded appropriately.

MI(s), MP(s), MS(s).

More Investments from private organizations. More Public-Private Partnerships from world-class sports service providers. More Schemes (Eg. Khelo India). For a country that expands this vast and immensely populated as India, it may require 10 to 20 schemes like Khelo India to fully support sports movements with their investments from multiple facets.

Media Coverage.

A secular India covers all stories with an ocean of media outlets. They should cover all the sports pursued by Indians and not just its giant, Cricket. The younger generation wants to pursue football, basketball, and Mixed-Martial Arts as well. Cover them too. Simple.

Hari Prasanth

Hari Prashanth PVS. Ph.D. (Material Science and Advanced Manufacturing Technologies) Mechanical Engineer.

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