Nurturing Future Olympians of India: GoSports Foundation

Sporting champions are not born overnight. They have to be discovered, nurtured, trained and groomed. That can only happen when the right talent gets the right support at the right time.

In 2012, two GoSports athletes participated at the London Olympic and Paralympic Games, but the 2016 Rio Olympic and Paralympics Games saw participation from 15 of their athletes (4 in Olympic and 11 in Paralympic). In fact, half of the members of the Paralympic contingent were GoSports Foundation athletes and out of the 4 medals won by India at the Rio Paralympics, 3 of them belonged to athletes trained by the foundation.

Sportspersons like Kidambi Srikanth and Dipa Karmakar received support from GoSports which helped them do well in their respective disciplines

GoSports Foundation is a decade old non-profit organisation focused on supporting the country's most talented young athletes for the Olympics and the Paralympics. They provide scholarships and support to junior Indian athletes, in an attempt to professionalize sports in India. They believe that if India has to win at the international level, our society needs to first build a culture of sports that supports athletes, and encourages young talent to take sports more seriously.

Deepthi Bopaiah, Executive Director of GoSports spoke to Jaago Re on the need to build a culture of sports in India.

“Parents, schools & the larger society can be the pillar of support for rising sports stars.”

Sports, as we all know are quite beneficial for children. By playing sports, children develop physical skills, make new friends, have fun, learn about being a good team player, learn about fair play and the essence of winning and losing.

In my opinion, parents should let their kids participate in sports not for instant success, but rather from the perspective of keeping fit. As we are aware, children today are so engrossed with technology based gadgets, that sports and playing takes a backseat. Let the child first get used to sports and get to like it so it can become part of their daily lives.

Later if the child is found to be really talented, they should be allowed to consider sports as a career option. There might be a Devendra Jhajharia or a Dipa Karmakar in every household but are not able to come out of the closet due to the lack of support by parents.

Society also needs to evolve in their mindset regarding letting their children choose alternative career choices. They deem someone as 'lucky' or born with an 'extraordinary' talent when anyone excels in an alternative career choice. This can be very demotivating for children if they decide to pick up a sport as a career.

Why do we need to begin with our schools?

A lot of untapped sports talent in India is found in our schools.

For any sports to be developed, due importance should be given to a strong Grassroot Structure so that the sporting talents can be scouted and nurtured from an early age. Making sports a compulsory subject in schools can be one of the stepping stone towards that. Schools should also take responsibility in giving sports equal weightage as education. They can scrutinize the development of a child and hence if sports is made a compulsory subject in school with marks, children have to then take sports seriously. Furthermore, schools should also consider developing the sports environment so kids get the platform to pursue their passion in sports from school level.

Schools possess a unique combination of infrastructure with a structured group of children going through it. Although most schools have an open field; there are schools that do not have the infrastructure and would now be required to develop the same if sports is made a compulsory subject in schools.

There is a pool of untapped talent in schools; we just need to tap into it. To to this, we need quality coaches and teachers at the school level to empower the children who have the zest and zeal to excel in sports.

We can put India back on the world map, if the change begins from schools

I wholeheartedly feel that communities, schools and individuals should play their part in supporting sports for providing new avenues for young kids to explore other than basic education. Schools provide a platform where junior talent can be nurtured so that their transition becomes smoother to national and international levels wherein organizations like GoSports come into contention for providing the support and thus, improve the chances of bettering India’s world rankings in the field of sports.

In a field as vast as sports, it is impossible for a single entity to bring positive change unless there are collective efforts directed towards achievement of the common goals.

India undoubtedly has immense Sports talent at its disposal but these talents are still in need of professional support and resources to reach their potential. If the right platform is given to right talent at the right time, there is no doubt that we will improve our performances at the International events and be at par with our counterparts.

To make this possible, Tata Tea is petitioning the HRD Ministry to make sports a compulsory subject in schools across India. This will not only help children gain exposure to sports at a young age, it will enable a slow yet steady move towards a culture of sports in India.

I urge everyone to join this movement and help build a culture of sports for a better sporting future for India. Sign the petition here

Alarm Bajne Se Pehle Jaago Re!