"You
will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the
Gita."
— Swami Vivekananda
Sports
and recreational activities are essential for the physical, mental and
emotional development of the youth. These activities lead the youth to a
healthy lifestyle which helps them in improving their productivity.
The
benefits, derived from sports, are immense. Active participation in sports
improves the health of the youth which results in a decline in the medical cost
and crime rate. It inculcates discipline and introduces the concept of team
work, leadership qualities, social bonding among the youth. In recent years,
research has revealed that sports and physical education play an instrumental
role in the school life which may help in improving the behaviour, health,
retention and social skills of a student. These attributes have a positive
impact on achieving academic excellence. In brief, it can be said that the
active participation in sports helps in building social capital which is a key
for making a strong society.
On
the other hand, the success of the young sports persons at the national and
international stages helps in creating social
cohesion, pride and prestige at the state and national levels, achieving
international recognition etc.
Sport offers career options to a part of the youth
while healthy and active lifestyle to the other part.
The
three sectors of sports, public, non-profit and private sectors, should work
together, both for providing participation opportunity and achieving excellence
in sports in any state of India.
The
objective of this article is to discuss some of the important initiatives that
may be taken in order to improve culture of sports in the states of India which
will encourage the citizens of the country to participate in sports to become
healthy and fit.
Improving the participation at the Community, School,
College and the University levels:
To increase the
participation opportunity at the school, college, university and the community
levels, financial assistance should be provided by the State Governments for
developing and maintaining sports infrastructure, especially playgrounds, and
for purchasing sports equipment. These infrastructural facilities will provide
an opportunity to the students and the community to take part in sporting and other
recreational activities more.
These infrastructure and
equipment should also be used for holding competitions for selecting sports
talents. A nodal agency may be constituted for ensuring the effective
implementation of this policy. This agency should also be entrusted with the
responsibility of providing a pathway to the exceptional talents in sports,
selected at various levels, after consulting with the sports bodies, sports
academies of the State and other stakeholders.
Developing Sports Culture at
Schools
The participation level in
sports in schools is low as the importance of sports in the educational system in
India is still not comprehensive. This situation may be changed by making
sports and physical education an integral part of our educational system. The
State Governments should enact effective policy to make sports and physical
education mandatory in schools so as to motivate the schools to provide
sporting opportunities to all students. This policy will not only encourage the
budding sports persons to showcase their talents in sports, but also motivate
others to participate in sports by which they will become healthy and fit.
Importance should be given
on creating awareness among the youth on how sports can be taken as a career
option. Seminars, interactive sessions should be organized at the school level
with the help of eminent sports persons and sports management experts to make
the students informed on various aspects of sports and sports management which
can be taken as a career in future.
Reviving Rural Sports
There are number of rural sports in every state
which do not require high investment. However, these rural sports are losing
their popularity due to the emergence of high valued, glamour oriented sports
events. The State Governments should take adequate measures to revive these sports
by engaging the youth. Financial assistance should be provided for purchasing
sports equipment for rural sports. Competitions should be held regularly at the
local, district and state levels to provide opportunity to these sports persons
to exhibit their prowess in traditional games. District level Sports Meet for
rural sports should be organized once in every year in each district. The
winners of the District level Sports Meet should be given opportunity to
participate in the State level Sports Meet to showcase their talent. The State
level Sports Meet should also be organized once in every year. The winners, both at the District and State
levels, should receive awards from the State Governments. This will provide the
youth a pathway in rural sports which in turn will motivate them in
participating in these games.
‘Right to Sports’ for the
persons with disabilities
The State Governments should take a special initiative
to make all sporting facilities, owned by the State Governments, accessible to
the youth with disabilities. Necessary measures should be adopted to promote
sports among the youth with disabilities by providing them special equipment,
arranging trained coaches, organizing competitions from local to state levels.
Awards and scholarships should be offered to the successful sports persons in
this category. The private sector should also be encouraged to make their
contribution in this area.
Sports for Women
This policy recognizes the benefits of sports for women
and ensures an improved lifestyle for women through the participation in
sports. To achieve this objective, the State Governments should ensure equal
opportunity for women in sports in Schools, Colleges, Universities and local
communities, especially in rural areas with the active support of the local
governments, sports bodies, NGO and governmental organizations. A ‘Women’s
Development Centre for Sports’ should be set up for providing training to the
exceptional women talents in sports. Special allocation should also be made for
promoting women sports persons who should be selected from the competitions,
organized at various levels, only for women. Special initiative should be made
for making all sporting facilities, owned by the State Governments, accessible
to the women to increase their participation in sports.
Recognizing the achievers in
Sports
The success of young sports persons of the States at the
national and international stages plays an instrumental role in creating social
bonding, pride and prestige, achieving international recognition etc.
Therefore, the State Governments should develop proper guidelines to recognize
and reward the young achievers in sports. An Expert Committee, comprising the
eminent sports personalities, should be constituted for the selection of the
young achievers in sports. This initiative will motivate the young
sports persons to perform better and make the States proud.
These are some of the initiatives in the key areas of
sports development which may be taken by the States Governments of India in
order to improve the status of sports in our country. ‘Sport’ is a state
subject and thus state initiatives are essential to make India a ‘sporting
nation’. The success in sports is only possible if we can create a culture of
sports and encourage people from all sections of the society to participate in
at least one sports or any physical activity on a regular basis.
