In the recent past, one of the most talked about aspects in sports has been the support system for Indian athletes. While on one end of the spectrum is the support from the public sector which has grown manifold in India in recent years, there is also investment from the private sector which plays a pivotal role in the development of a sustainable sporting ecosystem.
Further, to develop the sporting ecosystem, one of the key points that needs attention is tapping into the enormous amount of talent that is present in the country. And this has been one of the key points of discussion over the last few years – scouting talent and working on them.
“There is a lot of improvement and scope for involvement for private sector in sports development. For now, most things are supported by the government in sports. And there is a need for the private players to step in, and they can adopt sports development to help as well. This can be basis CSR support to grassroots development as well. Currently, the major aspect that needs addressing is the identification of talent and scouting at the grassroot levels,” said PK Jha, Joint Secretary (Development), Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, during Y20 Roundtable centred around the theme of sports development.
While support from the private and public sector is one aspect of the matter, getting the right kind of education and infrastructure integrated into the sports sector is also critical.
“If we have to build infrastructure, a tie up with an educational institute is a valid avenue to consider. Pick up a sport, a corporate and then they work with ten schools for example. Adopt that sport and then it will give you results. The current government is very supportive of such initiatives. If we can tap the educational institutions, that should be the starting point to build infrastructure and also provide young athletes with the right coaches,” Amit Bhalla, Co-Chair, FICCI Sports, said.
When it comes to finding the talent and building a robust ecosystem, such that the pipeline doesn’t dry out, India has also had benchmark organisation like the BCCI, who have, over the years, ensured that the Indian cricket system sets the standards, globally. Former India cricketer Ashok Malhotra opined that being able to market a sport and bring in accountability will help the sporting ecosystem.
“One should take a leaf out of the BCCI playbook because of how they market the sport. Why has the IPL done well, because it has been marketed well, and one needs to do that. In our country, there are so many private companies who back sports or even state governments such as Odisha. I am sure other states come in as well. Sport now represents a much bigger landscape and we need the private sectors support as well.” said the former cricketer.
The decorated badminton ace Manjusha Kanwar added that it is important for support systems at all levels to be equally robust.
“There are so many layers in the system. At what layer should the private and public player come in, should it come at the intermediate level or the grassroots? It should all work towards making India a sporting nation. We have different platforms and levels across the sports sector for bringing in private sector support. They all should be benchmarked in terms of the kind of support and involvement needed for corporate stakeholders to come in and make an impact.” she said.
“Corporates are looking at sport in a bigger way than before beyond CSR as a core brand narrative and business driving investment as well. But here’s where the gap is, while the intent is there, many corporate entities don’t know whom to talk to. They have the resources, but they’re not sure whom to approach and where their involvement will have aligned and meaningful impact. We need to professionalise and also have the NSFs and other sporting bodies be open to corporate participation by first calling out areas of support. Not always for investment but also basis expertise across aspects like technology integration and infrastructure development.” Neha Rastogi, Co-Chair, FICCI Sports, said.
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