World University Games: Indian institutions find quick fix solutions to appear relevant

We have to consider the place universities, colleges and schools have in the development of sports in the country. We have asked ourselves what contribution these institutions are making to the  progress. The question is pertinent for these institutions should be nurseries of intellectual, spiritual and physical progress.

The fact is obvious that only a very feeble trickle flows from the universities and colleges into the sporting stream of the country. Were the question asked, as it has been, whether we have received  a good quota of athletes and sportsmen for our national games from universities and colleges, the answers would be an unequivocal ‘No’.

This has been extracted from a 1959 report of the Ministry of Education’s Ad Hoc Committee Enquiry Committee on Games and Sports. Six and a half decades later, were the question asked, as is being on the eve of the World University Games in Germany, if Indian Universities has contributed to the Indian sports ecosystem, the answer remains an emphatic ‘No.’ 

There can be no better indication that the fact that many ‘student-athletes’ in the Indian contingent headed to Germany are less of students and more of full-time athletes. Clearly, some universities have made a beeline for recruiting athletes who have made it to the national teams with their talent and by the dint of their hard work.

It makes one wistful to think that there was a time when the reverse was true. If an athlete was selected to the All India Universities or Combined Universities squad, it was almost certain that the athlete was shortlisted for the Indian team. In an eagerness to show that all is well with university sport, quick fix solutions have been embraced and pull wool over many eyes.

Hired guns do not make an army 

It is one thing for a university to claim that 24 of its student-athletes were part of the Indian Olympic contingent in Paris 2024 Olympic Games. A study of how many of them attended courses and trained in its facilities will tell a wholly different story.  The University in question has not even got veteran archer Tarundeep Rai’s name right in its website. 

Meanwhile, a Deemed University has sponsored content across platforms citing a number of athletes like Praveen Chithravel and Jeswin Aldrin, Rupal Chaudhary and Ankita Dhyani who train elsewhere as its students. That content reveals that more than 300 ‘student-athletes’ from 61 universities have been selected through trials for the World University Games.

Yes, in the era of instant fame and gratification, when optics and amplification are the buzz words, even universities have found shortcuts to seem relevant and significant contributors to Indian sport. Unlike in the past when they or their respective constituent colleges would play a big role in the development of the student-athletes, they are now looking for readymade solutions.

We must be careful before believing that things are getting on track in India. In US colleges, it does not matter if one is a world champion or a world record holder, the student-athlete have to attend classes and get the minimum grades. Athletes have to sit out a term, if not a year, if they do not  get the minimum grades in each course they sign up for.

The US Colleges are the breeding ground for champions and their sports departments are well-staffed with world class sports science support. The College Coaches have immense knowledge and, hence, earn enormous respect of the athletes. A look at the coaching staff travelling to Germany may reveal that many would not be associated as coaches in the universities’ employ.

Coats of paint not enough to cleanse system

Even the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, overseeing governance in National Sports Federations, has paid little attention to University sport besides attempting to give it a coat of paint by conducting the Khelo India University Games. For many years, AIU has been recognised as a National Sports Promotion Organisation and secured assistance from the Ministry.

Despite the efforts of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to revive university sport, few universities have taken up the task of developing sports and contributing to the nation’s sporting cause. In fact, that ‘student-athletes’ from only 400-odd universities attended trials is a statement of the lack of interest in a majority of Indian universities.

With 1067 members and 19 associate members across the country and lakhs of students, the Association of Indian Universities Sports Board can be a crucial cog in the wheel that drives Indian sport forward. However, over the past several decades, Indian sport has not seen University sport as a reliable assembly line.

With a concerted bid, India may find that there can be a fairly large talent pool in colleges to be tapped in to over a period of time. If those who are part of India’s sports thinktank set University sport right by now training their focus on making them efficient parts of the assembly line, more Indians may make it to the podium in 2036 Olympic Games.

Instead of asking questions and finding solutions, India will be celebrating a couple of dozen and more medals. Some Universities will line up felicitation functions for their medal-winning athletes. In fact, when celebrating all medals that the squad will return with from Germany, we must mainly remember that the Indian sports ecosystem has contributed to the Universities squad.