Sportspersons Deserve More

We have often been told that hockey is still India's national game. We have heard that so many times that the phrase has come to sound like a cliché. Sadly, few people seem to be working towards sustaining that as a reality.

Let us look at a small example that illustrates this. The Railways hockey team was meted shabby, appalling treatment for a fortnight when taking part in an all-India tournament in Hyderabad. One of India's most formidable teams, its players were made to live in train compartments parked
by a deserted platform in the Secunderabad railways station

The players had to bathe with water meant to clean the railway compartments. Their showerswere long rusty pipes. The bathroom was the railway yard along filthy train tracks. The kitchen for the team was located near two lavatories. You can imagine if the players were provided with proper, let alone hygienic, food.

If one of the country's high profile public sector units, Railways, cannot provide the players of high caliber basic amenities like reasonable accommodation and food, you can imagine the lot of the players from lesser sides and of players who passionately pursue lesser sport.

We shall not talk about how Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic and other NBA outfits boast of their own aircrafts to minimise stress and travel time for the players. Instead, let us look at how well cricket is handled by the Board of Control for Cricket in India right from scratch. This is one of the many reasons why the lot of the cricketers has improved.

In a country like ours, where everyone talks about cricket being given prime importance and cricketers being treated as demi-Gods, other sports take the backseat mainly because their national federations refuse to take a leaf out of the cricket book. They need to change by finding officials with vision to run their sports.

For far too long, Indian sports officials have forgotten that they are around because of the players and not the other way around. Without players, there can be no sport. They are the fulcrum around with the federations revolve. Once this truth is recognized, there can be no doubt that other sports will flourish as well.