Sports and the student

In a country obsessed with Cricket, there is absolutely no dearth of sports fanatics in India. Some of them have had a childhood which the day started with watching an India-Australia cricket match and ended trying to emulate Sachin’s straight drive or Dravid’s square cut. The rebellious anti-cricket kids usually switched on their TVs late evening to catch a glimpse of their favourite EPL teams playing club football. A rare few cherished both. In today’s day, where the homework given to an average student is so much that at the end of the day (if there is one) leaves barely any time for a YouTube video. For us 90s kids, PT periods meant dodgeball or kho-kho for 2 hours and maybe trying to catch the eye of a girl or two from the class. If yours was a boy’s school, it was well..maybe just a question of proving yourself. Schools are the breeding grounds for future sports star and it is a must to encourage enthusiastic students to tap their talents. Colleges should also endeavour to recreate such an environment. Why? Because sportsmen earn 5 times more than your 9-5 average Joe. A-list cricketers earn a crore an year in addition to the 5 lakh match salary. This, and the endorsements coupled give them enough money to build a 1-storey house made entirely of currency notes. And as far as footballers are concerned, it’s unreal. Apart from the money aspect, they combat obesity. A sedentary lifestyle once acquired is tough to let go off. Playing Halo and Call of Duty on your couch, munching on pringles isn’t going to give you six pack abs. By college, most if not all athletically inclined guys find their calling and decide on their career path. Colleges, in India at least, mostly give you a platform to obtain a degree while a sportsperson can do what they love most. M.S Dhoni, the World Cup-winning captain got enrolled for Bachelor of Business Office Management and Secretariat Practice at St Xavier's in 2008 but he never attended the classes or appeared for examinations. But the irony is Dhoni was awarded an honorary doctorate by De Montfort University after the conclusion of a Twenty20 practice match against Leicestershire. In my school days I’ve heard rumours of overage students sneaking their way into the Under 15 squads. Nepotism and regionalism even at school levels has literally been quite the spoilsport for talented youngsters who have been left out on the bench just because the coach’s or the trustee’s son wants to get a taste of the action. Only if colleges granted marks for students for outstanding achievements in sports instead of simply side-lining them as extra-curricular activities. Engineers make great cricketers (read Anil Kumble, R. Ashwin). Shaquille O’Neal is an arts major with a PhD and Michael Jordan is a geography grad. Another problem which hinders the development of budding sportspeople is when kids are told from a young age that hockey and all other sports, other than cricket have no future value whatsoever. And by the looks of it, the status quo isn’t going to change any time soon. Silly School playground conversations: Me (with a team of classmates): I want to bat first today! Team-mate: No way, last PT period, you broke first in carom. You can bowl first though. After a long argument, I gave in and let my team mate have his way. He smacks the very first ball over the school fence sparking a debate on whether that’s a six or he has to be given out for hitting the ball out of bounds. Team-mate: Now who’s gonna ask sir for a new ball? Opponent (Walking away): Don’t bother about it. If you’re counting that as a six, I’m not playing. Team-mate : Arre yaar, chal na. Dead ball, bas?!