India is tit he second most populated country across the globe. Unfortunately, it simply failed to produce enough high-quality players in the recent years. When it comes to Olympics, India has always displayed poor performance. All of us want a medal as it adds value and boosts the image of our country at international level.
India is a land of sports. Many known and unknown sports are played here. Some of these are bizarre too. The country has its own set of indoor as well as outdoor games. Hockey is the national sport of India, many skilled players tried to take it to the top of the international arena but failed. It is only cricket that pulls maximum attention everywhere around the country.
When it comes to the ratio of population size and medals won, India is considered as the worst Olympic performer. And it is strange that a country of population beyond 1.2 billion people managed to bag only less than one medal per game on an average.
Until now, Beijing 2008 remained the most successful Olympic in India. The players managed to finish with one Gold medal and two Bronze medals. This accounts for over 383 million people per medal. This is the highest ratio of all competing nations at Beijing.
India has not failed to produce exceptionally talented sportsmen and women. Cricket is a classic example of the same. The whole nation is passionate about this game. Sachin Tendulkar, one of the greatest players ever of Indian sport is appreciated all over the world for his skills and records. The cricket team of India holds the world one-day title. According to the latest and breaking cricket news, until recently, the team was given the rank of Number 1 Test team all over the world. On the other hand, the Indian men’s field hockey team managed to win six consecutive Olympic Golds in the mid-20th century. According to reports, field hockey accounts for over half of historical total of 20 Olympic medals of India.
1. The Need for Improvement
Several games such as cricket, hockey, and other sports in the country need an overall improvement. In case of athletic games, India requires a lot of development and reinforcement. Cricket is the most preferred game among aspiring sportspersons, parents, and kids across the country. Hockey also gets a good share of appreciation.
In India, it is important many crucial factors to be taken into consideration apart from enhancing player’s performance. Some of these factors include the following:
2. Infrastructure System
This is one thing India never bothered to pay attention to. For better performance and producing the best breed of sportsmen and women, the country must spend a significant amount on the infrastructure system. The government should focus on constructing and funding towards better stadiums with hi-tech amenities and facilities.
3. Develop Games
The problem in India is lack of interest and fear of experimenting. With so many games and opportunities across the country, people have only a bunch of games to get interested in. Investing time and money to develop other games such as shooting, wrestling, and boxing will certainly help. Until now, only a few games such as tennis, hockey, and cricket are popular across the country. This restricts other players to show their talent.
4. Academies and Institutions
Are there enough good institutions and academies in India? No. This is also a reason India lags behind in the field of sports. The country should pay attention to constructing various sports academies for games such as tennis, chess, wrestling, shooting and many more. These academies should be available to aspirants and players in every state of India. India is a home ground for several hockey and cricket training institutes. However, not much attention is paid towards other less popular games. Considering these games seriously will help players motivate to enhance their skills and perform well at international level.
5. Enhance Representation of the Country in Olympics
The Indian government should make dedicated efforts to increase the representation of the country in the Olympics. This should be increased to over 85 percent. In the year 2008, China represented 34.44 percent of the events. This strategy must be re-framed and India must try to exploit number of talents.
6. Encourage All Sports
The sportsmen and women of India lack encouragement. This is also one of the major reasons they fail to perform at various national and international levels. Encouragement towards each sport in India is a must to improve performance. The process also involves creating awareness about the existence of various sports across the nation. These days, all aspiring players want to take up only hockey or cricket as their sport. This mentality will never let India shine in the international arena. This mentality can be changed only when there’s enough opportunities and awareness about other interesting sports in India.
7. Focus on Health
Health is definitely a crucial factor that affects the overall performance of a sport. When players are not physically fit, they cannot perform or concentrate well. It is the duty of training centers and various sports associations to provide a proper and well-structured health chart and diet plan for the players. This will motivate them to perform better.
8. Private Institutions
Although it is prime duty of government to promote and fund the sports segment in India, society and the private institutions should also lend a helping hand towards promoting and improving the overall performance of a sport across the country.
Things We Can Learn from China!
1. Ample Opportunities
China makes it a point that there is ample opportunity for all sports enthusiasts and dedicated sports player to participate in the Olympics. The country also gives an opportunity to its people to play and participate in any sport they are interested in. China knows how important and fruitful it is to exploit the talents.
2. Sports Education
There has been a lot of emphasis by China on sport and physical education. This policy allowed them to boost and upgrade the performance of each sport on a regular basis. They have also made it mandatory for sports personalities and those interested in it to follow a regular exercise regime.
3. A Policy
It is important to understand that China follows a prudent sports policy. It is integrated with objectives related to self-strengthening and ethnocentricity objectives. This helps aspiring and polished players show their skills whenever needed.
4. Build Up Strength
This has always been on the forefront of China’s targets. ‘All China Sports Federation’ has a primary aim which is to promote sports really well and build up the physical strength of its people. This should be the motive for India too. All sports associations across India should adopt this motive. It clearly emphasizes the game and overall health of the players.
