Participation at international and world championships for countries/athletes have been highly competitive dominated by a high level of sports scientific training and effective programming at local, state, and national level.
Most successful high-performing countries in sports hire executives and coaches with leadership and expertise to run their organisations and are evaluated on tangible data sets. The most important data point that decides the faith of these executives/coaches is winning championships and all other things are peripheral.
When the mission and objective are not met by executives and coaches, they are fired immaterial of the past glorious success. Case in point, the recent USA, NBA finals between the Denver Nuggets and Maimi Heat. On the way to the finals, many teams did not make it to the finals. All these coaches that had tremendous past success were fired and replaced by new coaches. Such is the nature of the “game”, when the coaches are not productive, they are let go without any hesitation in the interest of the organisations to win a championship.
To a certain extent, India in recent years has been following the same philosophy of incorporating advanced scientific training of the Western world by hiring foreign coaches. They are provided with competitive salaries and reward systems for successful coaches and firing and replacing the unsuccessful coaches, at least in the field hockey and cricket, that I know of.
The cumulative accumulation of administrative leadership experiences in sports and knowledge base from Goa and America enabled me to offer suggestions to enhance sports and health/wellness for the subcontinent of India/Goa.
In my previous feature, suggestions for Higher Education abroad for the youth of Goa were proposed to enhance their professional training that will provide opportunities to work around the world.
SUPPORT FROM STAKEHOLDERS
For any scheme/programme to be successful, it must have strong backing from the government, especially from the Chief Minister of Goa. Case in point, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik single-handedly provided the state government’s possible resources and assistance to build two world-class facilities to promote field hockey not only in the state and country but internationally too.
The two state-of-the-art field hockey stadiums in Kalinga at Bhuvaneshwar and Bira Munda in Roukela have put Odisha on the world map for field hockey. This, in turn, has enhanced the state’s international tourism. We can have a similar, even better, scheme/programme for Goa in athletics and football. I would be willing to assist the Goa government and its auxiliary units to design, implement, and evaluate a feasible model that is result-oriented just like the USA. However, there must be a continuous sustainable commitment from the government for the plan to be successful.
EDUCATION IS IMPORTANT
In Goa and India traditionally, parents encourage their kids to focus more and concentrate only on academics, and rightfully so. Not much emphasis is laid on sports or extracurricular activities outside the classroom. These activities add value to the educational experiences of the kids in terms of health and wellness which is a must in this modern society.
Social interactions by participating in sports assist students to develop skill sets that are paramount to navigating their professional pathways to successful careers. It will serve the kids well as they progress into their professional life. Additionally, gifted and talented kids in sports may even have the opportunities and avenues to pursue a professional life in sports. For example, Neeraj Chopra, Tokyo Olympics Javelin throw champion, was the first gold medallist of India in Athletics. Murali Sreeshankar, India’s best hope in the long jump, started making some noise at the international level. These athletes will provide the much-needed motivation and drive the youth of the country to engage and participate in sports with commitment.
The team members of Indian field hockey and cricket, to just list a few, are mostly professional athletes. These professional athletes make a handsome living which runs into millions of dollars/rupees along with product endorsements and appearance fees to participate in major championships.
One must remember that to be a successful professional athlete, the percentage is very low. In the USA, fewer than 2 per cent of NCAA student-athletes out of 500,000 go on to be professional athletes. Most student-athletes depend on academics to prepare them for life after college. Education is important!
[The writer presently based in Ohio-US has won awards in multiple sports in his youth and served in Higher Education as faculty member, administrator, and innovator in sports in the US for 32 years]
