Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Indian sports need a boost) that was published in Newsband

Indian sports need a boost

In recent Olympics, Indian hockey team lost all the matches it had played. It's a very shameful thing which has made a catastrophic dent in the history of India. Having known that India had a legendary player like Major Dhyanchand, winning not a single match reveals something which isn't revealed hitherto. On one hand, we win world cup in Cricket and on the other hand we struggle hard to win a match and end up with last rank in a game which is our nation 's game. What can be worse than this? There must be something wrong in the whole system. We'll have to check it from root to top. The basic thing is lack of infrastructure and loss of interest in the game. We'll have to introspect that why there is no dearth of talent in Cricket and there is huge scarcity of talent in Hockey although it's our national game. The reason is that there is nothing like appraisal and driving force to play Hockey as there is in Cricket. We will have to provide them with these.

There has to be a political will emanating from a change in the general public's view about sports. No parent in India would like to send their children for sports, given the hurdles and career risk involved. Making a career in sports is not in our psyche. We send our children to schools and colleges to get educated in fields where there is some minimum guarantee of earning their bread and butter. If the system of education and employment in India were to be such that sports can both be enjoyed and become a source of decent livelihood, then and only then can we think of getting medals in Olympics. There is no dearth of talent. If our education system can encourage sports, then private sector will invest in education and sports facilities. The qualities that make a good sportsman is unfortunately lacking in the Indian society. Dedication, hard work with intelligence, scientific approach, honesty and teamwork are the prerequisites. Our performances in other fields indicate otherwise.

It is a big shame on us that as a nation of 120 crores we have not been able to win at least one gold medal in the London Olympics. Though our sport contingent has won six medals in all, our performance there only reflects the commitment of our governments towards sports and games. Most of our physical directors in universities and colleges draw fat salaries but have little work to do, thanks to lack of sport facilities and support. Most of the stadia built in Delhi and other cities are not utilized fully. There is lot of talent in hockey and other sports but cricket has stolen the show and relegated other sports to back seat.  In the past we had the unbeatable place in hockey but today most of the hockey players who have won laurels for the country are in abject poverty. Who is responsible for that?