It isn’t a surprise to anyone that when it comes to spending time, effort, & money on sports & fitness, India is a long way behind other nations. We have been a sleeping giant in sports for a long time now. Wake up, the giant will for sure, but when is the key question!
Recently, Puma India launched a fabulous digital campaign ‘India, Let There Be Sport’ and roped in marquee athletes like Virat Kohli, MC Mary Kom & Sunil Chettri to promote sports and advocate elevation of sports from being ‘extra curricular’ subject to ‘main subject’. Here is the link in case you missed it.
Puma also did a dipstick survey about sports participation in India along with the Neilsen group and the findings are quite telling (but not surprising).
- Only 68% of adults say they have participated in some physical acitivities in the past 12 months!
- On an average kids in India spend only 86 mins per week on physical activities vs WHO recommended guidance of 420 mins
- Only 20% of Adults in India spend more than 150 mins per week on physical exercises
- Lack of time was the key reason cited for this
While this is just a small survey covering 4K respondents across 16 cities, we just have to look around us to corroborate these findings. The survey is quite spot on despite the smaller sample size.
As a nation, we are ‘playing’ a lot lot lesser than we should be. Especially, our kids who are glued to the digital screens more often than being outdoors.
If you have read till this point, I believe, like me, you are also deeply concerned about this and keen to do something about it. So, here is my 4 point guide:
A. Be a Sports Guy/Gal, all the time
Start active participation in sporting activites by buidling small yet regular routines. Routines can range from a 30 min daily walk to a 30Km+ weekly running mileage. Or, may be just 30 mins of badminton, yoga, tennis, swimming or any other sport you love. Start sweating it out – regularly!
B. Be a Sports Influencer, all the time
Okay, not necessarily the social media influencer types but become someone who is always pushing others to play more. Start with your family and social network of close friends. ‘Drag’ them along in your next walk or the next game or next yoga session. It will take atleast 4 weeks of regular routine for a newbie to get to the habit stage, so it is upon you to keep dragging till they do not need to be dragged anymore!
C. Be a Sports Motivator, all the time
Next time you hear about a kid who is doing great in sports or an senior uncle/aunt beating the younger lots, reach out to them and talk to them. Tell them they are awesome. And then, tell everyone around you how that kid or that uncle/aunt is awesome. Make them heroes!
We need 1000s of sporting heroes at the local level that people can related to – ones who are like them but doing awesome with sports. Do your part in identifying such people and making them local heroes.
D. Be a Sports Supporter, all the time
Find out local level sporting activities around you and offer your time/expertise/resources to support them. Most local sports activities are run by active volunteers. So, if you find a local fund raiser running event nearby, reach out to the group and offer to be a volunteer or may be just participate or just donate in case you deeply care about the underlying cause too. While we all splurge monies for tickets to marquee events like IPL etc, every once in a while purchase tickets for less glamarous sports like volleyball, basketball, athletics etc. and watch those games too. You would be surprised to know that most of these tickets are dirt cheap or free, so all you need to do is show up and cheers for the athletes.
While doing this, also encourage your friends and family to do the same. Just like point A, drag them along till the time they no longer need to be dragged!
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On The Run with Aashu 
Very well articulated and i can absolutely relate this lack of interest in sporting activities in my surroundings. I feel this 68% & 86 mins are also skewed due to small sample size! In my neighbourhood which consists of 5000 flats in 5sq km I am the only person who run along with a 20 years Kid whom I managed to drag with me since last one year! Kids are more occupied in digital screens which is pathetic (including my son!).
All your 4 points mentioned above are true to the core and what I also feel that this campaign by PUMA should not only be limited to screens. Why can’t there be clear dictum from Government to schools on making sporting activities absolutely must for all kids? It should be part of Curriculum and not EXTRA.
For adults the scenario is little more complicated. I just can’t fathom the excuse of ‘ I don’t have time for workout’. No way an individual can be so busy that he or she can’t eke out 30 mins/day for himself. It’s all about creating the atmosphere, encouraging people to participate in sporting activities and here also Government, Corporate offices, local clubs can play big role. Adults need to come out of the slouch.
Last but not the least why can’t there be dedicated budget for Sports like we have for Defence? Hardly anything called sporting infrastructure apart from a few stadiums that too mainly for cricket? Apart from road running (and small weight training facility I built in my flat ), I also want to practise in synthetic tracks but alas no place to go in city like Kolkata forget smaller towns.
To cut the long story short we need a 360 degree effort to change the scenario. And people like you are definitely the frontrunner with the sporting attitude. Kudos!
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