AboutIs sports important for a country like ours?
Can sports be a catalyst for overall development? 83 athletes were sent as part of Indian contingent to Olympics to participate in 13 sports for which the government spent about 143 crores. Amazingly, this isn't a particularly bad year for India at Olympics. It has won 6 medals it's highest ever with some inspiring success stories. Our salute to all those sportsmen who have won these medals for us in spite of all odds. However, India is a country of 1.2 billion people, with zero gold medals at Olympics — it has won 22 medals in the history of the Olympic games, which means it is 55th in the world, tied with Morocco and Thailand. Somewhat at the same ranking in the current medals tally. At the 2008 Beijing olympics, India had the lowest ratio of medals-won to population of any competing country: one medal per 383 million Indians. It is regularly outperformed by much poorer countries, such as Ethiopia, Kenya, and North Korea. But measuring Olympic medals would be a poor way of quantifying a country's overall sports talent and that's not what the Olympics are about. I strongly believe that India has thousands of the world's best runners, archers, weight lifters or volleyball players, but they are hidden some where and waiting for that platform or for that opportunity to come by. Sports is one activity which cannot be restricted and we have observed that over the years it has gained a lot of traction entirely by word of mouth. For first year we had 3 teams and then it went upto 10 teams and last year we had about 25 teams participating. In 2012 edition we had about 50 teams from Andhra Pradesh & Maharashtra participating. Our village, Kandakurthi is strategically located on the banks of river Godavari & only a bridge separates Andhra Pradesh & Maharashtra. Since 5 years we have been conducting this sports event in our village, Kandakurthi in Nizamabad district of Andhra Pradesh, coinciding with my father Late Mr. Vijay Kumar Gumaledar’s death anniversary. The other activities include running a library, conducting Medical camps, distributing food to the poor etc. It's our endeavour through these events to provide that opportunity and platform, wherein we will be able to sift through the rural talent and spot those hidden diamonds. In the next editions of the game we would want to take the sports to the next level by including more disciplines and seeking participation from farthest rural areas. In a small way we have demonstrated what sports can do for a country like ours, and it can be a starting point & can pave the way for other development activities. Sincerely, Deepak Gumaledar |
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