I recently witnessed for the first time in my life how a sports competition is organized in Karnataka. Coming from a sports mad state like Goa, I found the organization appalling. To say that things were done by halves would be an understatement. I found things made without a heart. Group-level competitions consisted primarily of track and field events, in addition to kho-kho, kabbadi, volleyball, and throwball.
The other sports were pretty well organized, but the track and field events took a good beating. First and foremost, the terrain was poorly marked. Track and field events pride themselves on precision marking, meticulous measurements, and timing. But here, evidently, they depended on the discretion of the majority and an attitude of “get over it.” The predilection and bias were rampant until more personnel began to make their presence felt on the field. The Physical Education teachers, who are mostly men, barely paid attention to the questions and objections of the non-Physical Education teachers who accompanied the girls from the school of which I belong.
The start and finish line was not clearly delineated and the number of rounds that the participants had to do in the different sprinting and distance running events was adjusted according to the general situation of the participants. There was hardly any professionalism in the organization and I wonder what the students are learning and learning from such events. It is a well known fact that Physical Education teachers, who are also the main organizers, sympathize and are favorable to their own school and the schools in which they have friends. I do not think it is at all appropriate for physical education teachers to organize much less refereeing or supervise the events in which their school participates. Although they may be impartial, it would be better if they had not gotten involved just to avoid any possibility of favoritism and bias.
On the part of the student-participants, the spirit of sportsmanship or sportsmanship was almost absent. It seemed that the vast majority had come just to skip school. It was clearly evident that no prior examination of the participants was carried out. Many never knew the rules of the events they participated in and PE teachers literally explained it to them on the field. This also does not speak well of both students and teachers. In general, girls did much worse than boys in athletics. The causes and implications leave a lot of room for reflection and follow-up.
Witnessing this great “joke” set my mind in motion. What is the level of sports in our country? It is evident from the ongoing Olympics. Countries much smaller than India have already opened their medal accounts while we are still waiting for our first piece of silver. If grassroots sports are to continue to be performed at a non-professional level, how are young people going to develop a sense of sport and sportsmanship? Sports in India leave much to be desired. Eminent athletes have spoken out against the superficial treatment of sports, but hardly anyone in high places listens to them. For India to become a world power in sport, money must come second and sport must come first. The love of the game must once again replace the love of money. Frivolity and trifles should be put aside, and genuine efforts should be made to improve the situation, otherwise the status quo will eventually take the game out of sports and leave it like an empty shell to fly when pockets of one are drying up.