Why Mission Olympic???

Lets first look at the कल आज और कल  scenario of sports. When we look at the history of Indian sports we see a lot of importance was given to sports in India. We will find a long list of   games that originated and played in India right from chess (indoor game) to hockey (outdoor game). Sports was considered essential at that time for two main reasons 1. physical fitness and 2. to pass time. 

Then came the time of पढोगे लिखोगे तो बनोगे नवाब, खेलोगे कूदोगे तो होंगे ख़राब! This line was used by most of the people in India a  few years back. Sports was considered as a waste of time in those days. A lot of emphasis was given on academics and sports was considered as distraction.  People young and old were discouraged to take up sports. 

The picture is changing now. Sports in India is not just considered essential for physical fitness and to pass time  nor its waste of time anymore. Sports in India has a wide scope now. If we compare ourselves with the sporting nations we are still at a very beginning stage. Nevertheless sports today is far beyond physical fitness and time pass. Importance of sports can be seen from the individual level to societal level to global level.

Olympic games are the largest sporting event, in terms of the number of sports on the program, the number of athletes present and the number of people from different nations gathered together at the same time in the same place. The UK-based Simon Anholt, who advises governments on their 'nation branding' strategies, sees the Olympics as one of the best ways for a country to get international attention. Therefore now is the time to showcase our country's ability. 

To explain the importance of sports and Olympic games here are a few points:

Sports and Health: Physical activity has a crucial impact on society's health and well-being as well as healthcare costs. Sports and exercises help in strengthening and toning the muscles and bones in the body and also helps in keeping the immune system strong. Sports provide not only physical health benefits but also Mental Health benefits. Success and failures are both part of sports as well as life. Sports teaches an athlete how to handle both failures and success. It also teaches how to handle competition  fearlessly and overcome adversities.

Sports and Unity: Sports has the power to unite people. Nelson Mandela, in his first term as the South African President, initiated a unique venture to unite the apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Indian cricket team also has a power to unite the whole nation, remember 2011 cricket world cup? 

Sports and Economic Development: Sports can contribute to economic development by creating additional sources of income including the manufacturing of sporting goods, the development of sports related services and infrastructure or the hosting of sports events. Sports can also boost other sectors like international trade, tourism, social entrepreneurship, etc.

Sports as Moral equivalent of war/ Sports and peace: All human beings have an urge to prove one's superiority over others.  This urge has led to most of the wars in human history resulting in destruction and bloodshed. Sports has evolved as a remedy to satisfy this urge. After the second world war, one of the European thinkers has commented that the Olympic movement must be sustained and developed since the only alternative available to it is war.  "Stop war. Start tennis" Bopanna and Qureshi, an Indian Hindu and a Pakistani Muslim, spread their message of peace on the tennis court.

Sports and Pride: Above all, winning in sports events is a matter of national pride, well this can be seen by the way fans express themselves through their teams and the way successful teams convey and instill pride in the society. 

Support sports for a positive social change!

  

   

Catch the wave: Target Olympic 2012

2010 A Golden Year in the Indian Sports History. 

1. CWG 101 medals (including 38 gold, India gaining 2nd position in the medal tally),
2. Asian Games 64 medals ( 14 gold)
3. 5 World Champions – Vishwanathan Anand, MC Mary Kom, Tejaswini Sawant, Asher Noria and Sushil Kumar
4. Saina Nehwal World No. 2, won 4 super series titles 3 in a row in June and 4th at the end of the year
5. Boxer Vijender Singh remained the world No. 1 the whole of 2010
6. Arjun Atwal – 1st Indian to win on PGA tour
7. Rohan Bopanna with Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and the final of the US Open.
8. Sachin’s 50 tons in test cricket
9. Winning Asia Cup after 15 yrs
10. Retaining No. 1 Position in Test Cricket

For the first time here we have so many role models from different disciplines of sports at the same time.

We have been reading all these facts in newspapers, magazines, TV reports and we feel so proud of all the achievements. Lets just look behind all these facts and search for the reason for such stupendous performances in different sports disciplines. Was talent the only reason? Yes talent is one of the and the most important reason but its not the only reason. Talent was never the question, we always had tremendous talent, but we lacked the professional, systematic and focused approach towards the games.

Commonwealth games to some extent brought some kind of professional, systematic and focused approach in India towards the games. I read an article in June 2010 titled “India aiming at best ever performance on home turf”. The article shows that the players, associations and even the government were focused, and expected good performance from the team on the ‘home turf‘. And this time it was not just ‘hava main baatien’ but they actually worked for it. A few of the excerpts from the article  ”To ensure India’s good showing at the Games, the sports federations had swung into action in 2008 and a set of “core probables” were selected in each discipline and put on an intensive training-cum-competition regime, both at home and overseas. A total of 424  athletes will represent India in the 17 disciplines at the Games, but three times that number — 1,286 to be precise — was the core group. The government has looked at every requirement of the core group, from allotting foreign coaches in every discipline to doling out extra sums for the diet of athletes. The government also relaxed the norms for the acquisition of weapons and ammunition for the shooters and that will go a long way in helping them as stringent procedures to import arms have been a major hindrance for their preparations.“Our teams have got more exposure trips abroad. We have foreign coaches, masseurs and proper training staff. It has made a difference,” said Wrestling Federation of India president G.S Mander”.

Its very important that we – support staff, coaches, family members, members of the associations, government, media, and sports lovers support our players and empower them so that they can just focus on their game and giving their best shots and need not worry about the issues. A small effort from our side has given so much of confidence to our players. Had the things been handled more professionally and fairly we could have done even better. But never the less most scandalous year in sports has also been the glorious year for Indian sports.

The glorious year has just gone. Now what next? Lets not get satisfied by what we have done.We can do even better than this and we have a long way to go. This is just the beginning. A journey of thousand miles begins with a small step. 2010 was the 1st step.  Now its time to plan for 2012.  The ‘Baap‘ of all the sports competition is here…. Olympic Games 2012! After the review of 2010 comes the resolution for 2011 and which should be “Mission Olympic 2012” .  It’s high time we start our preparation for Olympic 2012. For years we have been facing the question for our medal chance in the Olympic games. We were always compared with the countries whose presence in the world’s map goes unnoticed but their presence in the Olympic Medal’s tally is way ahead of India. Now is the time to answer those questions and change the picture of sports in India. Its now or never. We have the potential, we have the talent, but only talent is not going to help – professional, systematic and focused preparation is also needed now.

We have athletes who are ready to fly high in this sports world, we just need to give some strength to their wings. How? Well,  we all have a ‘role’ to play in this mission, and what is it…. watch out for this space you will get the answer. We have a lot of preparation to do this year….Happy Reading!!!