'Don't judge a book by its cover' is a commonly quoted maxim which Goa's sports administrators -- those occupying positions in State sports associations -- will do well to understand, acknowledge and proceed to pull up their socks as they go about the business of managing the affairs of their respective sports discipline.
Yes. Breaking into the top 10 at the ninth position with a tally of 92 medals including 27 gold, in a field filled up with all Indian States and the Services Sports Control Board is indeed a feat.
But it is just the cover of Goa's sports book. Inside, there are dozens and dozens of pages of nepotism, corruption, neglect, mediocrity and a general lack of inertia to excel.
For starters, it's common knowledge that much of the National Games laurels achieved were possible because Goa, across all sports disciplines, relied on athletes borrowed from other States.
Even if it was within the norms, where the athletes require a minimum six-months residence of the State, much of the credit for Goa's creditable performance is attributed to these outstation athletes and players.
To judge the degree to which the presence of outstation players elevated Goa's overall performance one has to only compare it to the performance in the previous edition of the National Games held in Gujarat last year. There, the State took a conscious decision to field a 100 per-cent local contingent and the result was a meagre tally of just six medals, all of them bronze with zero gold and silver.
So, while it is fine for Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Sports Minister Govind Gaude to be gung-ho over the outcome of Goa's performance, it would be foolhardy if Goa's sports administrators take a similar line and rest on these laurels because in the next edition slated to be hosted by Uttarakhand, the State will not have the luxury of auto-qualification accorded to the host State and will not be able to field teams in at least 60 per cent of the disciplines.
Eleventh-hour
preparations
The buzz of hosting the National Games was around in Goa since 2008-09 when the Goa bid for the Games was accepted. Since then, Goa's tryst with it has had massive ups and downs with multiple false-starts. Yet, almost every sports association had until the beginning of October not begun finalising their squads or training.
Sports administrators and Associations must break away from the practice of picking teams and putting them through intense preparatory camps only 15-20 days before a national competition.
They clinched the 7th position in the overall medal tally with 82 finishes on the podium, including 30 gold medals.
It had a 560-strong contingent -- 406 players, 76 coaches, 56 team managers and 22 officials -- and the State participated in 25 disciplines. Their performance despite the violence and ethnic turmoil at home hampering their preparations, is indicative of a thriving sports culture which it has developed over years of dedication from its coaches, sports managers and athletes.
A lesson or two Goa's administrators can learn from Manipur, foremost among which is that the job is a round-the-clock affair, 12 months a year, every year.
Infra, success bound to
attract more sports events
The 'successful' hosting of the games is arguably Goa's finest chapter in its sports history. If the Games' technical commission chief, Amitabh Sharma, is to be believed, the state-of-the-art infrastructure across the State will be a game-changer and make Goa a venue organisers of major sporting events will give a serious look.
According to Swetika Sachan, IAS, who is Sports Secretary to the Goa government and was the pivot of the organising team, Goa is now ready to host big sporting events.
“The Government of India, IOA, and federations of different sports were very supportive in helping us hosting an event of this magnitude. We are now ready to host bigger sporting events in future," Sachan said.
Will SAG buck up,
manage stadia better?
The temporary playing arenas put up to host the Games apart, several of the permanent facilities in Campal, the athletic stadium at Bambolim, the Manohar Parrikar stadium at Navelim, the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium at Taleigao, the Peddem sports complex and the Ponda facility have all got refurbished, spending a colossal amount of funds.
Most of this sports infrastructure was up and about back in 2014 when Goa hosted a similar sporting event -- the Lusofonia Games. Yet, through the years between then and now, the pathetic condition of these stadia was primarily the reason why Goa faced flak from the IOA and almost lost its right to host the National Games, at one point even slapped a Rs 10-lakh fine.
The real test, however, lies in how Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) goes about managing this infrastructure, permitting the local sports ecosystem utilize the stadiums and holding regular maintenance checks, lest the same situation befalls Goa when it has to host the next big sporting event -- stadia in shambles.
All said and done, the success of the National Games has indeed lifted Goa's sports credentials several notches. The challenge is for its sports ecosystem to grab the opportunity, get its act together and soar higher.
