Gopichand’s advice to parents must lead to deeper thinking in Indian sports ecosystem

Pullela Gopichand, one of a kind badminton coach in India, has shaken and stirred the Indian sports ecosystem yet again. His comments about sport in the country and his advice to aspiring parents to not think of sport as a career option for their children because only 1 per cent make it to the top have caused many to react in shock and some to respond. 

He is, if anything, a thought-leader. Besides having been a class act as a player in his time and a coach par excellence, he has championed the cause of Physical Literacy. Hence, rather than think of his call as alarmist, we must appreciate that he has flagged a very pertinent point, one that must be given serious consideration. 

His interviews must be seen as clarion calls to young athletes and their parents not to neglect education and be prepared for dual careers rather than as a commentary on the employment scenario in the country. It is a harsh truth that all youngsters, not just sportspersons, face – the ever-increasing population and jobs in public sector cannot be proportional.

It cannot be denied that over the past couple of decades, sport has offered many Indian athletes and their support staff a reasonably good avenue to earn a living. And it is not just the cricketers who have raked in the moolah. Of course, not everyone who picks up sport can flourish but they would have had no chance if they did not start playing sport.

Then again, not all engineering graduates find placement in the public sector. Not all those who qualify as doctors end up practicing in Government facilities. Not all lawyers are engaged as counsel by Central or State Governments. Sport cannot be seen as a short cut to rosy jobs with little responsibility but as a pursuit that one is on because of the joy it gives the practitioner. 

Yet, to tell young parents to not let their children consider sport as a career because it comes with a short shelf life and brings along uncertainty after that is not the best possible advice. Would their lives be better off without having explored the opportunities that professional sport offers them to learn to live life at large?

After all, there are so many from humble backgrounds who have played sport and secured a life that may not have been possible had they not taken up sport. It does not help to discourage the larger population of young athletes by making it sound that jobs are the key reason why someone starts playing.

If the possibility of getting a job is the only reason for someone to start playing sport, it is a wrong trigger in the first place. Children must play sport because of the joy of effort that it offers. There is magic in movement or in the stillness. There is a thrill in making contact with a moving object – be it a ball or a shuttle cock – or in hitting a target.

Yes, the single biggest reason someone picks up a sport – or any form of art – must be the happiness it gives them. Of course, everyone loves the security of a job and if some use the vehicle sport to secure employment, they must empower themselves with the skills that are needed to evolve in that role.

Nobody stops competing in a Grand Slam tennis tournament because there can be only one winner in each of the five events. Nobody refrains from entering a BWF Super Series event because each event provides for just one player to emerge the champion. The essence of competitive sport is to strive to give off one’s best every single time.

It is important for sportspersons to prepare for life beyond competitive sports careers. The pursuit of excellence in sport is demanding and consuming. But that does not mean that they ignore acquiring some skills that will help them in life away from competition. Indian sport is a growing industry and will have some place or the other for deserving former athletes.

Former India hockey captain Zafar Iqbal retired as Executive Director (Properties and Facilities) while Somaya retired from Bharat Petroleum as Executive Director (Aviation).  Sprinter Adille Sumariwalla has risen as CEO and was Founding Provost of a university in Ahmedabad. Viren Rasquinha heads a sports NGO that engages many sports professionals.

Of course, there is a greater need for India’s sports ecosystem to adapt what the International Olympic Committee does through the Athlete 365 community in offering Olympians the opportunity to deal with life in sport and prepare for life beyond sport. Indian sport seems obsessed so much with the here and now that it does not make many plans for tomorrow.

For long, India has ignored this elephant in the room. Gopichand has done well to shine a light on that. It will be just as well that this spurs India to begin addressing this issue with a lot more seriousness than it has thus far. Surely, the attention that it has drawn over the past couple of days will ensure good will emerge from the alarm bell that a saddened thought-leader has rung.