“My situation was like a dog lost in the temple courtyard [on the day of the festival] because I didn’t know the language, I didn’t have friends, I didn’t find food to my taste. All the coaches spoke Hindi… It was very difficult to adjust, in hockey. ,goalkeeping is an individual sport, I didn’t have to adapt or understand anyone else, that’s the only reason I survived! I already packed my bags and went home!” – PR Sreejesh, Indian hockey team.
Sreejesh is one of only three people from the state of Kerala to be part of the Indian hockey team at the Olympics, and the only one to have appeared in multiple Olympics. It showed when he struggled, hard, in the first years of the national camps, where the language (Hindi) and the food were foreign to him. He had no friends, no one to talk to, and he didn’t understand what his coaches were telling him. He persevered, because he is who he is, he succeeded. Now he has taken it upon himself to make sure his friends don’t have to face what he did.
Sreejesh’s personal experience of distance, however, raises an uncomfortable question on India’s National Sports Day (August 29): From hockey to football, from wrestling to boxing, it is Indian sports, apart from the behemoth of cricket, really a nation? Do they take advantage of the talent base spread across this vast country? Almost every sports organization in India is headquartered in Delhi, the far north of most of the nation; Does that lead to distorted views?
Are our games diverse and inclusive? The numbers suggest there is some way to go.
Take wrestling for example. Of the 12 wrestlers participating in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, 10 were from Haryana, one from Delhi, and one from Uttar Pradesh. Of the seven people who represented India at the Tokyo Olympics, all seven were from Haryana. Since the 90s, not a single athlete from outside these states (and Punjab) has represented India in the freestyle competition at the Olympics.
This is not to take away from the athletes, or their achievements, or to question the strength of the wrestling culture in those areas or in fact what the association in charge of the games in these regions has done for them – imagine the places where wrestling does not exist. that feeling.
There is always an argument that certain regions should emphasize sports that are historically or culturally inclined, to be given priority – even if you take that as a given (it really shouldn’t be), but how does that explain it? Maharashtra wrestling. ?
There’s no real debate about which genetics are best for certain sports either. As boxing and weightlifting have proven, sports with different weight divisions accommodate athletes of all shapes and sizes.
On the other hand, India’s badminton centers are further south – in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, and are spread over two institutions run by two players who have already become famous in those cities, P Gopichand and Prakash Padukone. All of India’s top players in the last decade – like Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Srikanth Kidambi, and now Lakshya Sen – have come from one of these two centers. This sport is played by everyone, anywhere in the country, even if it is in the evening. The potential to expand beyond these two hubs, to expand beyond metro areas is huge. Geographical representation at the highest levels is increasing, as shown by Kerala’s Treesa Jolly and Chhattisgarh’s Aakarshi Kashyap but the training is still very centralized: Treesa trains at Gopichand’s academy, Aakarshi at Padukone’s.
Hockey’s powerhouse has moved from the North-West to the East and brought with it increased representation from the region it went to (Odisha), but the spread of India’s most successful sport (historically) internationally should, logically, be too many. as it is now. And it has declined in traditional power centers like Mumbai and Karnataka.
Even in games where the middle ground is more or less removed, there are issues. The wicked ones at that. For example, in football, Dadra and Nagar Haveli winning junior women’s championships seemed to be a testimony to the expansion of the game. Except, there was one small problem: the team consisted of individual players from Haryana and Delhi. There was no illegality involved, but what was the point of the whole exercise?
In athletics, it is almost predictable where the players will be on certain fields. Long jumpers? Think of Kerala. Sprinters? Odisha Throwers? Please, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh. There will be exceptions, and there are, but that’s what they seem to remain – exceptions.
There are Sports Authority of India centers all over the country, including 10 regional centers (one in South India), and two academies (Punjab and Kerala) and where most of India’s best athletes are trained. go here (since they also have national camps). here), it might be instructive how many high-profile stars emerge from these centers.
Neeraj Chopra started from a local SAI center but soon after he went to a Haryana government center where he learned most of his early career through specialized javelin instructors. Avinash Sable was presented by the army steeplechase. Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya and every wrestler who makes it big, comes from local akharas and then moves on to big centers like Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi and SAI headquarters in Sonepat, Haryana. Vinesh Phogat was trained, along with her cousins, by her uncle. The badminton stars are all from the two private centers in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Sreeshankar Murali has been trained by his father since day one. Jeremy Lalrinnunga started at a local gym before moving to the Army Sports Institute, as did his good friend Achinta Sheuli. Amit Panghal also moved from ASI to boxing academy.
SAI and other state institutions have a good geographical spread, and many serve the purpose of athletes in the regions where these institutions are located (Mirabai Chanu, Mary Kom, Nikhat Zareen are good examples of their success); but every Jeremy and Sreejesh found outside the centers of traditional power; How much is lost? Proximity is still key.
This unification of sports in one (or several) power stations is understandable at first; and it can be argued that there is a need to build a solid platform to play games. But are we at the beginning of the journey? Will we ever get over this if this method has already been successful? Most games in India are on an upward curve, but imagine how much is possible if all the components are tapped.
Now, there is every chance that even if it is dispersed, the regional representation of the largest number of national troops would remain the same, at least in the near future. That should, though, not take away from the need to provide an equal platform for everyone to compete and try.
Of course, in this endeavour, the language barriers that Sreejesh faced would exist; India’s greatest strength, however, is its diversity. Any obstacle that arises from integration is accidental, something that must be overcome. And it usually happens when the effort is put in. Also, don’t athletes all over the country train abroad? Aren’t foreign professors working here? Why, then, should we allow language to be a barrier when Indians train Indians?
This is, of course, part of a larger battle that society must fight, but games can lead the way well. Shah Rukh Khan’s Kabir Khan starrer screamed on the big screen, “India! … Is it really too much (or too smart) to ask, in real life, that everyone in this country should be given an equal chance to do that, to represent India?
