The Sports Authority of India observed National Sports Day on August 29 with the theme “Sports as an enabler for an inclusive and fit society” under the Fit India Mission. The declaration was a solid attempt at broadcasting the need to create a conducive environment for promoting sports culture but I wonder if it resonates with the Indian demographic. Is the call for awareness reaching the roots of our society? Is sport a subject or an interest as fundamental as tv cricket would like us to believe?
SAI commemorates National sports day
Iga Swiatek’s glorious victory at the US Open is linked to numerous things, the most notable being her travelling psychologist with whom she has been working for years. She is one of the only players who has engaged with a psychologist to improve her performance on the court. This brings me back to questioning how far we have come in creating a sports culture that focuses on the mental health aspect of our athletes.
It starts small, remember when PE was a free period for any teacher to use for the syllabus completion and sports meets were annual events? How even, a career in sports is still not a lucrative option. The Indian education system has always laid emphasis on academic proficiency, the incentive for all-round development of a child has only recently been in the works through the National Education Policy which again begs the query of outreach.
The athletes that have gained worldwide relevance are an anomaly rather than the products of India’s sporting culture. The lack of social discourse on delivering a sports ecosystem with the population, diversity and resources we endorse is dismal. The following sociological implications have widened the gap between tactical planning and ground reality:
Inadequate Education and Awareness–
Despite the Right to Education Act, we are still grappling to provide quality and free primary education to all, quality being the operative word here. Sports at the primary level, available to all, remain a dream. We are a job-driven demographic and not a passion-driven one, sports is still a hobby to many.
Inequality-
To have access to indulge in sports is the liberty of only a section of our population. You have to have a certain degree of privilege to be a serious sportsperson. Inequality and inaccessibility of information, opportunity and instruments due to class and gender is a problem that needs fixing in order for means to reach an end.
Lack of Sports Infrastructure-
There’s a short supply of qualified professionals and coaches with respect to trainable athletes. Very few public-run institutions and organizations for athlete education and training. The varied recruitment methods are not regulated and monitored. The outreach programmes hardly reach the grass root level and thereby creating an unequal distribution of state services.
Lack of career prospects- Pursuing sports guarantees a minimum basic standard of living but creates no security or future options for when the athlete ages.
Integration of faculty of sports science-
A discipline that helps in recording, assessing and enhancing an athlete’s performance with the help of Psychology, Bio Mechanics, Nutrition, Anthropometry, Physiotherapy, Strength and Conditioning. All of these used in symbiosis calibrates into results. But not many athletes training in competitive sports have enough knowledge of mental health or psychology as a tool to aid them to train, they’re unaware of the benefits. It is true for a majority of us.
Mental health is taboo and visiting a psychologist is still a hush-hush, with which comes along the fear of being judged and considered weak.
Simone Biles chooses mental health
To put India’s performance in perspective, the likes of P V Sindhu, Neeraj Chopra, Mirabai Chanu, Hima Das and Deepa Karmakar, all, rose above the harrowed culture and proved their mettle. The need of the hour is to establish a sporting attitude that harnesses such talent.
The human capital we have, the resources we can generate, to create a network that is better synthesised to society as diverse as ours, as differently abled as ours and as potentially equipped as ours.
Read more: India’s sports culture requires a complete overhaul
Read more: Lack of sports culture in India
