Sports and Physical Education #sportsinindia #physicaleducationandtraining #sportscurriculum

We are a country of 1.324 billion people (records as in 2016). Our biggest resource, as well as drawback, is our ever- growing population. In another couple of years, we will become the highest populated country in the world. Yet, if we see our country’s performance in the Olympics or any other international sporting event, we are at the bottom of the medals tally. Barring cricket and a few other sports, like badminton, tennis, shooting, kabaddi, and chess, we fare abysmally in comparison to far smaller countries. Obviously, our country lacks a systematic and focused approach towards sports and physical fitness, an approach that should start with young children.

In our country, our education system is such that it stresses on academic performance above everything. Schools focus primarily on making a child academically competent and prepared for their respective board examinations, while ignoring the other aspects of his/her personality. Today, the need of the hour is to make a student physically and mentally fit to face the challenges of the highly competitive, dog-eat-dog world, survival-of-the-fittest. This is where sports and physical education come in.

Why Sports?

Research has proven that regular physical exercise and taking part in some sport build stamina and resilience in children.

Given below are just a few benefits of sports:

·         Encourages fitness and builds immunity in children

·         Keeps away problems of extra weight, poor appetite, lack of energy

·         Fosters team spirit and team work

·         Promotes healthy competitiveness among children

·         Builds sportsman spirit, so that taking part and not winning or losing becomes important

·         Weans children away from the perils of social media addiction

·         Boosts confidence in children

·         Children learn to play by the rules of the game

·         Teaches them the importance of working towards a goal

·         Children learn to accept defeat or failure as a part of the learning process

·         Provides avenue for release of unspent energy and controls aggression among children

In today’s stressful times, sports are a welcome form of recreation for the academically over-burdened child.  If a child plays a sport, instead of pursuing social media in free time, his/her time and energy is well spent.

Our country has already started investing in building world-class sports infrastructure to build sporting potential and talent.  A lot of effort is being put into grooming budding sports stars from their young age to become champions later.

Now is the time for schools to do their bit. We have built sufficient intellectual capital, but our country’s sporting capital is abysmally low. In recent times, P.V. Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Mary Kom, Vijender Singh, Sakshi Malik, Aruna Reddy, Dipa Karmakar, Kidambi Shrikanth, P.U. Chitra, and many more youngsters have made India proud with their achievements in the international sporting arena. We need many more Sindhus, Maliks and Karmakars.

Can schools work in a sports curriculum into the regular school time-table? It would require a total overhauling of the curriculum framework, which school authorities must initiate in collaboration with sporting institutes or training academies.

What schools need to do to make sports integral to the curriculum

ü  A number of schools in our country do not even have a proper playground in their campus. It goes without saying that such schools must make arrangements for using municipal or block playgrounds for their regular sports practice.

ü  Sports education and training has to go beyond the mandatory “PT” or “games” period, which is once or twice in a week. Each academic week must have sufficient time for playing a sport during school hours. At least one hour every day can be set aside for students to pursue sports actively.

ü  Schools need to be revamp and invest in building sports infrastructure. Equipment for practicing basic level sports like football, hockey, kabaddi, badminton, gymnastics, swimming, basketball etc., must be present in every school playground. If a student displays particular talent for a sport, then the school can take the initiative to get him/her trained further by a professional coach.

ü  Schools must appoint trained people like former athletes and ex-sportsmen and women as regular coaches. A panel of coaches, each member specializing in a particular sport, would be ideal to build the school’s sporting capacity and talent. 

Sports as a career:

Schools need to project sports as a serious pursuit and not just a means of relaxation and enjoyment. Following careers may be suggested to students seriously interested in pursuing sports:

v  Professional player: A number of sports like soccer, cricket, kabaddi, badminton, tennis, are nowadays being played professionally in national level leagues and championships. Students displaying talent in a particular sport can train to take it up as a career. Here, individual talent and capability, and team playing skills must be nurtured by the school, so that by the time the student completes school, he/she is a sufficiently trained sports person.

v  Trainer or coach: These days, professional sports trainers are very much in demand in our country and abroad. Interested students can do a specialized course in this area and pursue a career in sports training.

v  Sports Academy official: Sports academies, started by corporate bodies in major cities, employ a number of officials on their rolls. A solid grounding in a sport will aid in getting such jobs.

v  Fitness or gym Trainer: People are getting more conscious about weight and fitness nowadays. Fitness training is an area where career opportunities abound. Fitness coaches, weight coaches, gym trainers, there are several career options for an interested student.

v  Sports psychologist/therapist: This is an emerging area where career opportunities abound. Students interested in sports can undergo additional training in behavior and psychology, to grasp the problems faced by sports persons and devise strategies to deal with these.

v  Sports journalist/anchor: Sports journalism is on the rise with the rapid increase of sports magazines and television channels. Sports blogging is also a popular profession.

A good background in sports and physical training will give the child a sound foundation for life. The student will be able to take on life’s challenges head-on, with a can-do attitude. Sports build character and personality in a way no academic training can.