The future of the world looks uncertain, the future of this nation looks uncertain, and likewise, the future of India’s Olympic participation looks uncertain too. “Enough is enough, let us part ways” are the words commonly uttered by separating lovers. Ironically, this scene bore perfect resemblance to the current scenario of IOA (Indian Olympic Association),  IOC (International Olympic Committee) and our government.

The ban on IOA is hardly two months old, but the effect of the ban is set to haunt the next generation too.

But IOA is holding steady by not obeying the Olympics sports conduct rules in its office elections by following the quote “Every dog is a lion at home” and they are confident in their decision to put a full stop to India’s Olympic dreams.

Right or wrong, everybody seeks a bail plea or appeal against the judgement when they face the consequences. But IOA is different, as they did not move towards the court of Arbitration of sports and did not lay down their differences with IOC. Instead, the IOAthinks that they held their head high. This ban may now force IOA to start their own multinational sports and games events like Olympics to prove their mettle to IOC. May be the event will be named as AOG (Anti-Olympic Games). It is our natural and as well as national habit to start our very own organisation or own party if we are thrown out from one party or organisation, and we also consider our previous boss as our arch rival.

In the AOG, the members may be from previously and currently banned countries by IOC. And also there will not be any wondering, as IOA may seek the help of holy-spirit Kalmadi, Chautala, Lalit Modi or even Lance Armstrong.

The IOA will welcome not only humans but each and every creature of god to come and participate in the AOG. The main virtue of being an AOG player is that they need to be a tainted athlete.

In AOG, both winners and losers will be awarded medals and they will make sure of high cash prizes for their performance. Here, losers are awarded not at the prospect of winning next time but on the support they provide to AOG. In the history of world games and sports events, AOG will be the first and only games where the winner’s face will be carved on the medal itself. This medal will be a rare and distinct honour to them. The players will be allowed to party late night. The players will also be allowed to take part with the intake of EPO (performance-enhancing drug).

Here, the IOA  will try to make a statement to IOC that they are not cowards  but “heroes” in facing tough situations.

Most probably, IOA will consider India as their home land before expanding their campaigns to all other continents and even other planets and galaxies. Though Olympic Games are played once in four years, the AOG may be regularly played at a gap of a year or two.

There will be no big problems for IOA in finding title and other sponsors, since they can find more people who can donate them enough money for conducting a multinational event.

The IOA might start a new worldwide channel to globalize and popularize the Anti-Olympic Games among the doors of the millions of hearts living around nooks and corners of this world.

With the high and clever thinking, the IOA-led AOG will soon sail past the Olympic games to emerge as the world’s biggest multinational event.

The IOA might be thinking of echoing Julius Caesar words, “He came, He saw, He conquered”.

But the thoughts of fans and players will similarly echo,“We owed, We followed, We suffered and will suffer”.

Disclaimer: The above article is a work of fiction and is not to be taken seriously.

Every success achieved by a human in this world is not a sign of individual intellect, but that of team work or collective effort, where someone or something will have always played the role of a tutor, where there are heroes who’ve inspired them, competitors who compete against them, and the obstacles in their path. Similarly, the rise of an Indian sportsman or team from grassroot levels to stardom is mainly because of the collective work done by various sport hostels and sports academies. It serves as the initial catalyst in grooming their love and passion towards sports.

The reasons I rate sport hostels and sports academies as the first reactors in our athletic explosions are listed below:

1) Identification of Young Talents:

The quest for young aspirants to establish them on the world’s stage is a never ending saga of Indian sporting history. To facilitate this, an increasing number of sport hostels and academies have been established by our government. They identify players at a very young age, and streamline them into junior sporting categories such as the Under-14, Under-17 and Under-19 classes. The academies recruit young talents by conducting several tests which determine fitness, speed, endurance and the basic skills of their respective games. To identify a future stalwarts at a very young age is like giving birth to a genius or a prodigy.

In case of U-14 selections, coaches at these sport hostels face a sizeable task in convincing the young child and his family about the brighter future that lies ahead for the child. Life becomes easier for these coaches when it comes to the U-17 and U-19 selections as they can pick up their spring chickens quite easily due to the players’ mature minds.

Therefore, the graph for identification of young raw talents is steadily progressing from the low levels of early 1990’s. This is mainly due to the strengthening of the root levels, which can one day grow into a giant tree.

2) Nurturing Growth:

Nurturing fresh, young talent is pretty similar to bringing up a child after it’s birth. Here, academies or hostels need to be more secure about the growth of children since this is the stage where academies can nurture children by inculcating them with values such as love, courage, passion, knowledge, determination and a will to achieve success towards and for their respective sports. This boosts students automatically by successfully producing dividends after the players mature.

3) Experience

“Form is temporary, Class is permanent” reads a quote which re-imposes the faith of being in prime form. Being classy is always attained by playing more good matches against tougher opponents regularly. As a member of a sports academy, younger players always have a greater advantage of gaining more experience through playing high profile tournaments at state and national levels in different and difficult conditions.

Moreover, during these tournaments , they are able to utilise the input provided to them by Olympians or world class athletes. Meeting Olympians will always make these youngsters happy, and will inspire them to achieve more success, which is crucial at a young age.

4) Professionalism

Not everybody who produces a sound can become a great musician, but those who possess the Midas touch will become musical greats. Similarly, in sport, everybody can try their luck, but above all, it is the art of a perfect touch that matters. Because professionalism shows young players the  importance of discipline and determination towards the game. Being professional is the peak point of one’s sporting career, and while the students of academies will experience this X-factor at the initial stage of their unpredictable career. The  learning curve makes players understand that winning and losing is a part and parcel of the game, but they ought to remain upbeat on tough days and more grounded during their heyday.

5) Greater Exposure:

In the present media-centric world scenario, not every sport can get the same exposure that cricket does, but there will be exposure towards other games in our nation. Players at sport hostels and academies will always get greater exposure during national level tournaments, where players were identified through the lens of both government and private sector associations. These sectors will provide answers to players’ queries regarding their abilities. If the officials are impressed or pleased with the players effort , then the player will get a job and will be able to move to the next level of his career, thus enabling him to rub shoulders with his childhood and Olympic heroes and senior pros on the circuit. This process will boost him more mentally than physically.

These are the five most pivotal reasons I rate sport hostels, but there are some more terms in the list that fail to make the cut:

1) Incentives:

The incentives received by players for their outstanding performances now-a-days are higher than what Major Dhyan Chand, Milkha Singh or P.T.Usha received for their performances at international level. This will provide enough monetary resources for younger players’ preparations.

2) Infrastructure:

There is always a rather loud voice against poor infrastructure always rises, but I must proudly says that what I have seen in my state (Tamil Nadu) is quite satisfactory. Training which utilises better infrastructure will always makes their careers successful.

3) Careers related to sports:

If players can’t make it to the next level in their sporting careers, they can look out for jobs relating to sports by clearing courses at the NIS (National Institute of Sports).

The process of wearing the tag of a developed nation not only depends on the constant and steady growth of the economy, but also depends on the continuous rise in the sporting avenue.

The USA, Russia and the UK are considered developed nations in every aspect and China is on the verge of becoming a developed country, but we Indians are still far away when it comes to sport. We do provide a challenge for China in every field, but when it comes to sports field they are miles ahead of us, which indicates that if we need to become a developed nation before China does, we need to improve our grass root facilities significantly, which will only be made possible through the setting up of sport hostels and academies of a very high standard.

When Thierry Makon’s spot kick hit the cross post, the crowd seemed to be at their jubilant high for a moment. But the ball gets deflected to roll an inch from the line before Subrata Paul managed to clear it to become champions for the third time in a row. Until then, the mere full crowd was kept at their bay for a intense 120 minutes of great play. Ranking doesn’t mattered  Indian Football Team when they entered the Nehru Cup as the lowest ranked , but with their strong determination and indefinite spirit they outclassed everyone including the African Giant Cameroon in the final to emerge as the champions of our very own prestigious tournament.

This scenes are hardly a month old but the coming days pose a huge test for Wim Koevermans and his boys, since they crossed the first hurdle with the astonishing triumph. But “What’s next?” is the question from every Indian fan’s heart. For this, the Indian coach and his boys sounded the need of playing regular international friendly matches at more FIFA dates as it improves the ranking steadily. Can playing more international friendlies alone improve our rankings? Yes of course, it does, but must be done with proper planning. First of all, we need to play against opponents who are slightly higher than us, only in terms of ranking and not in terms of playing and skills. Then they should look to compete against teams that are placed between 90-130 in rankings. These teams will pose a stiff challenge in our road to reach the top.

Moreover, India should play their international friendly matches mostly at home. Since the turnout for the Nehru cup was one of the best the team has received in recent years, the AIFF needs to properly spread the fever of one of the most globalised sport in the world to inspire the fans to come and cheer their men at stadiums regularly.

The next prime target would be to qualify for the AFC Asia cup 2015. For that, we need to win the AFC Challenge cup 2014. It is time to step up now to enter the AFC Asia Cup once again. Coach Wim Koevermans also has to build on his predecessor Bob Houghton’s method of training at international standards like playing Portuguese and Spanish third and second division clubs. Wim Koevermans needs to arrange world tours against top European team or it’s reserve side in the summer, after the conclusion of I-League. Playing against top teams always improves our players confidence levels and game spirits.

The AIFF and Wim Koevermans also need to make sure that our bench strength is always raring to roar at high levels when they are called upon. Here it involves a process where AIFF needs to implement the idea followed by BCCI to improve it’s bench strength that is organizing matches between main teams vs reserve teams. Conducting a tournament between India’s main 11, reserve 11 and emerging 11 will test the quality of bench strength.

The high point of Wim Koevermans coaching career until now is the passing game of the Indians. The art of playing passing, possession and position football was literally visible in India’s style of play at the recently concluded Nehru Cup. It’s simply superb that our boys have started to adapt to the system in quickly and if they improve their speed and ball control, they will be ready to match and march against the giants.

Most of the members of the Nehru cup are youngsters, which means they need to perform at higher standards so as to cement their places in the national team. But more importantly, the Nehru cup triumph gave the young guns a taste of being part of a victorious team.

After the Nehru Cup victory, a huge path has opened for the Indian football team but the challenge now is taking things to a higher level. If they want to prevail in this path, they need to be more determined, disciplined and more spirited to make their presence felt in international Football.

Jai Hind!

]]> http://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/10/05/a-new-dawn/feed/ 0 03022 http://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/08/30/the-barriers-faced-by-indian-athletes/ http://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/08/30/the-barriers-faced-by-indian-athletes/#comments Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:17:01 +0000 Arun kuumar.v http://www.sportskeeda.com/?p=662776 Amid celebrations and felicitations to the six medal winners of the recently concluded London Olympics, there were no medals from our track and field athletes and we are yet to win a  medal in this field at Olympics. For the past two centuries, there were only a few athletes like Milkha singh, P.T.Usha, Sriram Singh who made it to the finals of their respective events but missed the medals by a whisker.

Among the 83 contingents who had represented our nation in the recently concluded London Olympics, we fielded only 14 athletes in track and field events which seems to be completely disgusting for a nation with a population amount of more than 100 crores. Peoples always wonder why India can’t produce great athletes like Milkha singh or P.T.Usha, but frankly speaking, to be an Indian athlete one must always faces hundreds of hurdles and obstacles on one’s path to success.

Here we look at the five major barriers of Indian athletes

1. Recommendations:

Recommendations play a pre-dominant and major spoilsport role in an athlete’s career. There are thousands of athletes suffering from recommendations every year. Even at the selection of SGFI under-14, 17 and 19 age groups, there exist recommendations. While the richer and wealthier people come with the recommendations of higher officials or ministers to make it to the state or district teams, the poorer ones with a loads of talents can’t make it. To produce quality athletes recommendations need to be completely abolished.

2. Financial struggles

Financial struggles is one of the major and ever existing hurdle of an Indian athlete right from the zone level to international level. 95% of Indian athletes are from a poor family which indicates most of them don’t even have money to buy kits for their respective events. More recently, after achieving  a new national record in pole-vault  with a jump of 5.13 metres, Mr.K.P.Bipim stated that he didn’t have his own poles for practicing and always needed to depend on his friend, which indicates that he is also a victim of financial struggles. Not only Bipim, there were many national and international athletes like sprinter Shanthi, who also closed her own school of academy for athletics after failing to reach the high expenses required to run the academy.

Indian walkers who participated in London Olympics like Irfan.K.T and Basant Bahadur didn’t have proper shoes for their events prior to the Olympics, but thanks to the media, who concentrated highly on this event, they were able to find enough sponsors for the players at the last moment.

 3. Drug scandals:

KANSAS CITY, MO – JULY 25: Sunil Chhetri #19 of the Kansas City Wizards competes with Jonny Evans #23 of Manchester United for a header during the game at Arrowhead Stadium on July 25, 2010 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

In 1950 when the Indian Football Team was asked to participate in the World cup, they allegedly rejected the invitation on grounds of FIFA’s ban on barefoot play. But after nearly sixty two years we are yet to make an appearance in the World Cup. This is a poor reflection of a team that once dominated the entire Asian continent by becoming the first Asian country to reach the semi-finals of football in Olympics. It is not that we don’t have enough quality to produce a world class players, but we generally lack in the style of play, physique and mainly in development of Infrastructure.

As things stand, the Indian football players are as skilled as their European counter-parts, but their way of training makes European players world class players. Look at players like Baichung Bhutia, I.M.Vijayan, they are highly skilled and talented but the style of play is different from the Europeans. Moreover our infrastructure and local leagues are not up to a world class level. So it is necessary to send our players to foreign countries to train  and  experience the world class infrastructure.

The impact created by Baichung Bhutia on Indian football is huge and unimaginable. He honed his skills effectively during his three year stint with England second division club Bury FC. He will always inspire the current and future generation players to try their luck at European football.

As we all know, India is a sleeping giant, top European football clubs have started to invest in Indian football by setting up their academies to identify the young Indian talents and train them to reach top levels in football.

There are many people behind the growth of Indian football, but former coach Bob Houghton’s futuristic idea of developing young players paid dividends in the form of good performances from the U-22 team at AFC Asian championship qualifying rounds. The U-22 team under Aussie coach Arthur Papas managed to defeat Lebanon and Turkmenistan and  hold Asian giant UAE to a draw and show a spirited performance against strong opponents like Iraq and Oman before going down by a small margin.

The year 2012 is a great year for Indian football as many players from India followed the footsteps of legends  Mohammed Salim, Baichung by successfully attending trials at top European clubs. Indian football team current captain Sunil Chhetri went one step further by signing a contract with Portuguese giants sporting Lisbon’s reserve side, thus making him the second Indian player after Bhutia to play professional football in Europe. Moreover U-22 football team goalkeeper, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu attended a trial at English Premier League team Wigan Athletic and his countryman and India’s No 1 custodian, Subrata paul attended a two week trial at RB Leipzig, a German fourth division club owned by Red Bull . Even though RB Leipzig plays in fourth division, its infrastructure and coaching methods are world class and it also owns an artificial grass ground for training. And Mehtab Hussain is another player who attended trails for a Scottish club.

Appointing  Wim Koevermans as the head coach of Indian football team was another giant step taken by the AIFF. The Dutchmen who rose to fame with his unique methods of coaching the Netherlands Youth team, which developed players like Arjen Robben Robin Van Persie etc.. is aiming to change the face of Indian football team. The time is now for India to make best use of its resources and aim to qualify for the FIFA world cup in the next 10 years.