Tired of debating? Have a break... have a Chit Chat - Page 45

Ah, technology is such a great thing. Look at how cool fencing is now that they've introduced technology to the game..LED's, light up buzzers and all.

Originally posted by: charminggenie

@Hadey- Outside the big States, take North east, Kerala, Jharkhand etc..parents do let their kids enjoy and pursue sports but it's the school/college level where there is lack of infrastructure,competition which puts them at a disadvantage.We need to tap in the rural India for talent which is still not under so much "nurture" demands.

You have the Badminton model, academies by Gopichand, the one in bangalore are grooming young talent from across the country and that is why we are top 3 in the world for producing Badminton Players.

@K- I know we shouldn't bother about medals but it helps na, the publicity, the coverage..can change the landscape of that sports in India. Like it did for wrestling and shooting.

I don't know if "lack of infrastructure" is a real problem or an excuse. For instance, for running, what infrastructure does one need? I mean, athletes from Ethiopia and kenya have won marathons so many times.

You are of course right that winning medals would be very nice. I was just doing my best sour grapes routine.

By the way, speaking of math and science, there too India did no better so <shrugs>

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Indian-students-rank-2nd-last-in-global-test/articleshow/11492508.cms

http://www.businessinsider.com/pisa-rankings-2013-12

Originally posted by: return_to_hades

K might have hit the nail on the head with nurture. Over here you have parents melting down on T-ball leagues. In India parents are herding kids away from sports and activities to studying. Difficult to catch the passion.

I agree that passion and will power make a huge difference too. Heck, maybe ALL the difference.

@K- Kenya Athletics Federation has a deal with Nike, latter has been bankrolling infrastructure, gear etc to the athletes who are suppose to wear their shoes, kit etc. It's a very competitive deal with adidas, Li Nang and Nike fighting over it.Nike pays around 1.3 million$ to their athletes and sponsors many competitions, training camps in exchange of bagging the contract. They have these deals in most of the poor countries with excellent track and filed record. Even Jamaica, a poor country has insane infrastructure which is why most youngsters have moved away from cricket there.

Originally posted by: charminggenie

They have these deals in most of the poor countries with excellent track and filed record.

Seems like you are saying the deals happened after the winnings...like success begets success.

The deals don''t explain the "original" success.

Interesting debate but actually the American system varies greatly to the UK. E.g. Sports scholarships - rare/almost unheard of in the UK. We have very few universities like Loughborough where national level players go to train because of the brilliant facilities they offer (including the England cricket, rugby, athletic teams etc) However, we have so many private sports centres and they usually don't disadvantage the working class either because there are plenty of youth clubs that charge next to nothing and provide state of the art equipment, a lot of which tends to be government funded.

Originally posted by: K.Universe.

Seems like you are saying the deals happened after the winnings...like success begets success.

The deals don''t explain the "original" success.

Originally posted by: hindu4lyf

But if we're talking intelligence, check out the child genius UK winner woo! And trust the Guardian to post a long piece on pushy parents following the tie-breaker hungama *rolls eyes*

Originally posted by: charminggenie

Yes, but then this success has been consistent and supported throughout especially in Boxing and athletics..Unlike in India where even when we were dominating Hockey at Olympics we just let it go. You need to nurture the success. Some 50 odd medals Kenya has got in long distance running and other athletic games. While India has barely managed a total of 26 medals across sports most of which are from team events. We had Milkha Singh and PT Usha , who went far and beyond but then what followed next in terms of change?

I won't deny "nature" , genetic makeup and build of Kenyan and other African athletes makes no difference but if there is a long system placed where youngsters from poor families are taken in by these academies and groomed, it makes a lot of difference for these poor countries. Nike has had a presence there since last 15-18years.

And I won't deny that there are a myriad of factors when "explaining" the lack of success.

All I see is that Ethiopia has 45 medals till date in the Olympic history and India has 26. To me, the infrastructure argument falls apart right then and there.