Sports in India

“A new social compact involving all stakeholders to launch a nationwide movement of youth in sports and unleash a new wave of sports consciousness

and sports development” No, I dint say this!! Dr. Manmohan Singh did –

more than 2 years back. But like many others, he never suggested how we create this new order.

As an emerging leader, I couldn’t help but suggest a few, over the next 9 slides

- Vivek Menon, IIM Indore

Cricket vs Other sports

Cricket – Managed by BCCI

•Most Profitable Sporting Boarding in the country

• With the advent of IPL, BCCI has consolidated its position as the world’s most powerful cricket board with enough profit share and mindshare to take key decisions

• Television rights and other sponsorship deals are the biggest revenue earners for BCCI

Cricket – Managed by BCCI

•Most Profitable Sporting Boarding in the country

• With the advent of IPL, BCCI has consolidated its position as the world’s most powerful cricket board with enough profit share and mindshare to take key decisions

• Television rights and other sponsorship deals are the biggest revenue earners for BCCI

Olympic Games (IOC at helm )

•Hockey – IHF•Football – AIFF•Basketball – BFI•Volleyball – VFI•Boxing - IABF•Athletics – AFI•Other Olympic Games• Most of the boards are ailing and caught up in petty lobbyism and internal feuds

Cricket, which is still not an Olympic sport is most popular in the subcontinent. All the other major sporting federations and IOC has neither been able to reach the profitability nor the popularity of what BCCI has successfully done.

The ailing sports federations will need to go through 4 distinct stages to achieve the 2P’s – Profitability and Popularity

Stage 1 : IDENTIFY THE PROBLEMMACRO LEVEL

Infrastructure related woes Govt Apathy No tangible system for Talent spotting Lack of a general Sporting culture Health and Fitness issue Neglected Champions Lack of sponsorship Zero International Exposure No long term incentive in pursuing sports

as a career

MACRO LEVEL Infrastructure related woes Govt Apathy No tangible system for Talent spotting Lack of a general Sporting culture Health and Fitness issue Neglected Champions Lack of sponsorship Zero International Exposure No long term incentive in pursuing sports

as a career

MICRO LEVEL – Grass rootLobbyists at various points of team selection – Regionalism Very few opportunities for children/youth to develop expertise in a particular sportZero aspiration to become WORLD CLASSLack of support from educational institutesLack of a proper league/ from district levelAbsolutely zero knowledge about fitness and dietVideo Footage of personal training and competitors not available

MICRO LEVEL – Grass rootLobbyists at various points of team selection – Regionalism Very few opportunities for children/youth to develop expertise in a particular sportZero aspiration to become WORLD CLASSLack of support from educational institutesLack of a proper league/ from district levelAbsolutely zero knowledge about fitness and dietVideo Footage of personal training and competitors not available

While some of these problems are addressed in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th stages, there are a few issues that will need some radical steps from the Govt Of India

There is the need for an Indian Sports Commission to be setup headed by a Strong Industry experienced stalwart with keen interest in Sports (eg - Nandan Nilkeni for

unique ID model). The chairperson can set committees for each sport with co chairs in each committee – Co chair will be a person who has excelled in the sports

nationally/internationally

While some of these problems are addressed in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th stages, there are a few issues that will need some radical steps from the Govt Of India

There is the need for an Indian Sports Commission to be setup headed by a Strong Industry experienced stalwart with keen interest in Sports (eg - Nandan Nilkeni for

unique ID model). The chairperson can set committees for each sport with co chairs in each committee – Co chair will be a person who has excelled in the sports

nationally/internationally

Engagement Structure for Popular Sports like Football/Hockey

Drive Overall Strategy ,Mindshare and National Team selection

Accountable for all zonal level tournaments and selection

• One to One Engagement at the Sport Centre• Stakeholders include all the schools (state/ICSE/CBSE), M.P’s, MLA’s, District Heads

Sports Mgmnt should be done by specialized Mgmnt Graduates and proven sportsperson - Helps reduce Political clout

Athletics/Archery etc will go by the Indian Institute Of Sports Model given in Stage 3

At each district level, a sporting centre (stadium) will be established. The stake holders at each district will be responsible for each of the sporting centre.With limited facilities in each School, a consolidated Sporting centre per District with the each School Mgmnt as Stakeholder will be highly beneficial

WHO ARE THE STAKEHOLDERS –a)All the school level educational institutions of the district (State level, CBSE, ICSE)b)District Head , M.P and M.L.Ac)The regional media houses of state

POTENTIAL SPONSORS Target Group• Media houses are automatic stakeholders – Hence prime

visibility guaranteed• One major sponsor per State which will ideally be a large

corporate house closely related to sports(NIKE, ADIDAS, Fabric companies, Fitness based companies)

• Local establishments based on state characteristics /landscape

• Kids of the age of 4. Three leagues will be established for the age group of 4 based on the month of birth –

LEAGUE A – Jan to April LEAGUE B – May to August, LEAGUE C – Sept to Dec

This is to eliminate the “MATHEW EFFECT “

THE ENGAGAMENT MODEL FROM THE AGE 4 (District Level to National Team)

• 3 leagues formed at Age 4 will continue to play the chosen sport for 3 years till Age 7• At Age 7, a single DISTRICT TEAM is selected. The team is referred by the birth year of the children (eg – 02 batch in 2009)• DISTRICT TEAMS to play inter district matches within state till AGE 10. At AGE 10, one STATE TEAM per year of birth are

selected (referred to year)• From Age 10 to Age 12, a state team member can appear for ZONAL TEAM selection. i.e. The Zonal team is selected from

the Age Group of 10, 11 and 12. If not selected in a particular year, you continue to play State level till Age 12• From Age 12 to Age 15, all the Zonal team members play zonal level tournaments.• From Age 15, NATIONAL LEVEL selection will take place. By such an exhaustive selection process for the National team, where a player is groomed at each level, the famous 10,000

hour rule will be satisfied. The selected national player would have definitely played with/against his team member numerous times and this will form the backbone of a strong team

Engagement Model

RESPONSIBILITY TO POPULARIZE THE SPORT

Before implementing an engagement model for future sportspersons, we need to look for various avenues to popularize these sports.While various steps need to be taken to popularize the sport, the responsibility needs to be shared between a) National & Zonal Level Executive Team b) State & District Level Executive Team

Stakeholders of each state/ district are ultimately responsible for generating funds for such investments at grass root level

FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS – Investments from Govt. are hard to get and time consuming, hence private sector partnership has to be introduced

Injury Management Insurance against Career threatening injuries and Career Mgmnt Agencies to be set up at Zonal levels

The initial expense of building sports complex can be shared by Govt and other stakeholders – Corporate level Donation Campaigns can be organized

Private partner for each state/district will be a consortium of a media houses( Regional TV channels, Newspapers, Radios), Large corporate houses with interest in sporting industry (Shoe manuf. Like NIKE, Fabric manuf., Fitness equipments, Fitness goods, health food), Other local industries and commercial establishments ( eg: Jewelers in Kerala, IT companies in Karnataka, Construction giants in Delhi)

National /Zonal Level Sponsor for merchandizing/TV rights etc.

Training coaches/physcio and dieticians at district level to become a part of the sports centre

An Entertainment based model for fund generation –

• The Sporting Complex of each district should stand as cultural pillars of the region

• Timing of each tournament ( Zonal, State and District) should be planned according to the social lifestyle of the district.

• Promotion of movies along with each tournament/teams • Screening of movies after each match in open• Organizing theme based MELA and carnival promoting sporting culture• Product Launch /New Product display conducted between matches• Brand Promotion through participating teams • Each state/zone can promote Sports Tourism by inviting international

Tier 2/3 leagues for friendly matches

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

Establishing one sports school (Indian Institute of Sports) in every state with the highest level of facilities. Since athletics/archery/ weightlifting etc cannot go through such a rigorous league system, the most promising candidates in such areas from the district level will be admitted to such Sports school.

Each school can be super specialized in a single area – Athletics in Kerala, Weightlifting in A.P etc.

Govt. Funding and reservation for students from such schools for higher education

Establish Sports Grading as a mandatory component for Class 10 and 12th examination where each student will specialize practically and theoretically in at least 2 areas of sports

NON FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS –

Support from Govt, will be in terms of mind share, such as –Free allocation of govt. owned stadiums/ existing sporting facilities for all ailing sports until the federation breakevens. Tie up with BCCI to provide stadiums

Making it mandatory for District Heads, MP’s and MLA’s to become stakeholders in their constituencies initiatives – Allocate more funds through them. Make it mandatory for all State/CBSE schools to affiliate to the INITIATIVE and establish the stadium in their location

Try and persuade all Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan recipients to associate with their home towns sporting centre.Film stars and celebrities need to be asked to associate with a sport – In Kerala, Mohanlal and Mamooty are currently ambassadors for Athletics and Volleyball respectivelySince the expenses are low in District and State leagues, we will not require huge International sponsors.Media coverage is ensured by local media partners who are part of consortium. A dedicated TV channel to showcase the local matches will create maximum publicity

STAGE 3 “Investment” – How to make sports popular??

Additional Investments

• Improve the culture of Physical Recreational Activity such as walking, aerobics which is very low in India – Organize Marathons across the country, Group Activities in Sports Centre, Yoga Sessions etc.

• Government many invite teams from various countries as guests of Indian Govt. Friendly matches to be organized• Coacher’s coaching camps - national level camps for coaches at various levels

Concept of Indian Institute Of Sports –• Located in Every State Capital for disciplines where league is not possible such as Aquatics, Athletics, Gymnastics,

Weighlifting • Residential training coupled with a competition venue, complete with all modern amenities. A world-class/national level

coach, aided by 5- 10 zone level coaches, would run the program. • Kids of age 7 and above can apply within their state. Partnerships with premier schools would address their educational

needs. Direct reservations to graduation level colleges• Each Academy will also try to run self sufficient by finding a sponsor.• Govt. may try and impose a rule of compulsory 25% fund diversion from the CSR activity of Private Sector companies to

Indian Institute of Sports• Give mind share to the revival, research and development of regional based sports, which are nearly extinct.

WHO ARE THE STAKEHOLDERS?Government of IndiaAssociation of SchoolsElected Representatives and District HeadsSponsoring companies Media Houses

WHAT ARE THE INCENTIVES ASSOCIATED

Government – Improvement in the sporting activity/performance in ailing areasAssociation of Schools – Improving the sporting culture, competitive nature of students. Additional Perks from Central

government based on Points accumulated through the representation of students in various leaguesElected Reps & District Heads – More funds allocated. One of the parameter of performance of MLA, MP measured

based on the representation in league/IIS from their district. More perks granted based on points accumulated

Sponsoring Companies - For companies like NIKE, ADIDAS, they are able to attract an entirely new range of target customer group in India which did not exist till now. For other sponsoring companies, visibility is an important factor, which is materialized through the new model

Media Houses: Media houses will naturally get associated with the initiative since it will become a sort of hygiene factor for them to cover the program – which is hyped across through various points

HOW ARE THEY INCENTIVIZED

• A point based performance metric can be introduced to keep a track on the performance at each district• Based on the point accumulated, the stakeholder will be incentivized by the Central Govt.

Incentives – “What is the PROFITABILITY attached to the new engagement model”

Immediate Step • One of the first steps that the Indian Sports Commission would take if entrusted

with power is to control the participation for International Events.• Either a blanket ban until the National team/National representative reaches

international standards orIssuance of incentives to the sports person (including Job, Insurance etc) if they only clear international bench marks and not when they represent India

• Only such a drastic step will induce the thought of becoming WORLD CLASS into the minds of Indian Athletes – today, their priorities are different, their ambitions reach a dead-end, once they get selected to represent India.

Thank You