Experts say that future sports champions in India will come from semi-urban and rural India (economically weaker section of India). So are the rich kids in India not hungry enough?
If you see the medal winners in the recent Olympics, and other sports champions in India, it seem to prove this point.
“The rich kids are just not hungry enough”, and most coaches and sports champions have asserted the same.
Barring sports like Cricket, Tennis & Squash (where you see top players from rich families), most other sports champions have come from the semi-urban and rural India.
Rich Kids Have More Options
Rich kids do have the fire in them, and do make the best of the coaching facilities available to them in training camps (coaching, equipment, apparel, shoes, tournaments etc).
But when they reach in their teens (8th/9th grade), their parents want them to explore academic options as well. So in addition to sports, the kids now have to participate in (academic )coaching, read books, go through online resources, take quizzes, appear for contests etc.
Suddenly, the rich kid loses focus, or just has too many things to cope up with.
Watch: Discerning Sports in India: Joy Bhattacharjya
As a result, most junior champs burnout and do not really make it to the top senior nationals. So, most grown-up children are not sure if they’re good enough in the sport, and therefore is it worth pursuing as a career.
So, ore than the hunger, is the availability of options that seems to prevent them from making it big in sports.
For the Poor, Sports is the Only Savior
When it comes to sports in India. Invariably, its about nurturing young talent. But its not that the rich child is not hungry for success in sport (compared to the poor child from rural India).
For many from the semi-urban and rural India, sports can fetch a good job, and is their only hope to lead a better life. With lack of schools and educational facilities, they have very limited options to take up as careers.
Its just that poor child has no choice, besides sports (as shown in movies like movies like Dangal, Sultan, Chak De) and s/he has to succeed.
So what do you guys think? Please let us know in the comments below.
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