All of us love sports and some of us are die-hard fans of some sports or the other such as tennis, cricket, kabaddi, football or golf. Most of us have some tough questions to ask the sports fraternity of India. Do we concentrate on sports education and encourage our athletes and sportspersons? Why do we fetch a very small number of gold medals from Olym- pics every time? Is there a political supremacy over the sports management affect- ing talented sportspersons? Undoubtedly, our politicians have time and again intruded massively into talent develop- ment blocks of sports and al- low business tycoons or their cronies to shape the nature of the game.
A vast majority of ener- getic sportspersons may not be even getting the right coaches or medical support when they get injured at the
school or college level. Cor- ruption engineers the alpha and omega of sports manage- ment in collaboration with in- ternational business brands and media barons. It would be wise to create a wide range of options available for every sports lover to nourish his or her talents without any bias or favouritism to accomplish a lovely career in sports. Why do we fail as a nation to sup- port our passionate and tal- ented youngsters to actualise their dreams? India could certainly become a giant in sports if we care for sports academies, scholarships for sportspersons and corrup- tion free sports management.
A large number of senior sportspersons are willing to contribute their best through all means, if ever, there is a policy mechanism to assign them suitable positions in developing sports. They will serve the sports fraternity with absolute dedication and commitment. Some of our top echelons fail to create policy watchdogs to revamp any policy blueprint whenever there is lacunae or misman- agement. Are our systems built to be systematically corrupt? None knows the end results of ineffective systems run for quick money-making corporate games.
We have learnt it over a pe- riod of time that commercial-ization of sports is inevitable but prudent management is to be strengthened to bring in drastic changes in team building, talent enrichment and recognition through spe- cial rewards. There could be several sports academies es- tablished across the country to initiate new ventures and comprehensive programmes for making new sports champions. It could be easy to establish a local sports au- thority in every taluk with a large number of physical education experts, sports rehabilitation professionals, physiotherapists, coaches and sports academies to en- hance the participation of the most talented athletes and sportspersons in the inter- national arena.
There could be systematic data collection and talent coordination done at every taluk level through the local sports authority to identify various thriving sportsper- sons. The data security and management of these sportspersons ought to be highly secure. Medical sup- port is essential for ailing or injured sportspersons and even retired sports cham- pions. There could be a few special National Sports Universities with various specializations to be set up everywhere along with Na- tional Medical Mission for
sports persons and athletes. It is quintessential to moni- tor any system being imple- mented with special observ- ers with or without formal announcements or policy mechanisms to actualise the best for the nation.
It would be easy to cogitate on special health insurance policies for sports persons with the aid of the govern- ment or non-government or- ganizations in order to ren- der emergency medical aid or support to any seriously injured sportspersons. We could even think of make- shift hospitals being set up whenever any international sports event is hosted by India at any point of time.
It could be convenient to set up a special hospital for sportspersons and athletes in every state with nutrition- ists, ortho-surgeons, sports therapists, cardio-surgeons, neuro-surgeons, ayurvedic medics, siddha doctors, varma specialists, homeop- athy specialists, body mas- sage experts, acupressure specialists, psychologists, pranic-healing therapists, and sports rehabilitation professionals.
Many international sports observers are of the view that special camps of de- addiction can be held every now and then for sports pro- fessionals, managers along with sportspersons. There could be systematic rehabili- tation centres to be set up for those, who fail in dope tests and monitor the entire sys- tem of coaching closely with specific observers to keep up the mental and physi- cal health of the athletes or sportspersons. National Sui- cide Prevention Mission can think about having special programmes or workshops for the participants of na- tional/international sports to come to terms with the failures/successes too. Some of these participants get de- pressed after any setbacks or failures, which could disrupt their career in a big way.
It could be appropriate for the policy-makers to step up vigilance against all kinds of sexual or financial exploita- tion of sportspersons, which might prevent the progress of India as a Sports Super- power in future. It would be wise to have special wing of National Investigation Agen- cy to monitor sports man- agement in order to curb all kinds of illegal transactions and absolute mismanage- ment of talent pool of young persons aspiring to be the international champions.
It is significant to create a system of national regis- try for the specially-abled sportspersons and fund them with exclusive stipends
and scholarships in promot- ing their sportsmanship. Most of the rural sportsper- sons never get any opportu- nity to showcase their talents and get any government or international rewards as their access to sports has been in a quagmire. Our sports universities or physi- cal education colleges ought to come up with specific schemes to enrol these tal- ented rural youth in their programmes and mentor them while rendering fur- ther training to enhance their competencies.
Our youth icons inspire the next generation to create new world records and bring immaculate laurels to this nation of one billion people, only when we streamline the efficiency of sports authori- ties and consultative leaders to accomplish the ideals of new millennium. We are ca- pable of exploring new ways to systematise our sports sponsorships and audit the existing systems through ef- ficient methods wherein the canker of corruption does not stifle the highly skilled and competent sportsper- sons from actualizing their noble mission with dedica- tion and perseverance.
The author is a corporate trainer, course developer and curriculum consultant.