Sports or education? How do you choose?

Education is hard. Sports is hard. But choosing between the two is the hardest part. All sportspersons in India have faced this dilemma at some point in their lives – no matter at what level they have played the sport. At one end, you have education, which is the conventional and safe route to pursue and on the other hand the love for sport with a hope to make it big there. So how do you choose? Parents are naturally worried about the ‘future’ of their child. The child is put through a punishing routine of school, tuitions and then extra-curricular activities to give them that extra edge. Coaching classes for the IITs and IIMs begin in school itself. So where is the time for sports unless their child is promised those additional 25 marks in the X and XII standard exams if they excelled at the national, state and district level in any sport. Then perhaps some effort would be made to dabble in a sport because it would help get a medical or engineering seat. [caption id=“attachment_102387” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Peter Rasmussen, former world and European badminton champion from Denmark, studied medicine while he competed at the international level. Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP”]  [/caption] But should this be the only reason to play a sport in India? And now that the policy of these additional marks is being curtailed, will it discourage our youth from participating in sports? It’s just that it is proven time and time again that sports should form a vital part of one’s life as its benefits are many. Physically, it improves one’s health for sure but the psycho-social development is nurtured too. The child develops inter-personal relations, a teamwork ethic with leadership and fellowship skills, sportsmanship, co-operation. Emotional control, high self esteem and a positive attitude is also learned. Studies conducted show that sportspersons are less likely to be affected by depression and display positive outlook towards life and its challenges. They lead an active lifestyle and pursue healthy habits with a keen sense of time management. Being a true sportsperson I surely advocate a daily dose of sport (for the sake of sports). At the same time I strongly advocate the need for education. After all, sports may be a career option for the first 25-30 yrs of your life – what after that? All parents would want their children to pursue a viable career that will provide financial stability. Sports, I agree, is a high risk career. The threat of injury and non-performance looms large. Also, career opportunities for sportspersons in India — barring a few sports — are limited. One may be an Olympian or national champion but if not professionally qualified, it’s hard to make a decent career outside sports. After attaining a high level of achievement in sport, one would like to work with dignity and at a respectable position in an organisation. But if not professionally qualified, that is hard to manage. Also, trying to earn a professional degree after quitting competitive sport is not easy and in most cases it’s just too late in the day. Therefore, the safest path would be to pursue academics. Unfortunately in India, both cannot be simultaneous. Why should this be so? Countries such as the US, UK, Denmark etc. encourage the combination of sports and studies by providing the sportspersons concessions in terms of grades, the time taken to complete each course and private tuitions so that the lessons that were missed by the sportsperson due to practice and tournaments can be made up. This has resulted in many professional sportspersons earning professional academic degrees while still competing. Did you know Roger Bannister, who in 1954 was the first man to run one mile in less than 4 minutes, was a neurologist in London? Peter Rasmussen, former world and European badminton champion from Denmark, studied medicine while he competed at the international level. Abroad, there are programmes in place to assist current and former players to complete their undergraduate degree, pursue graduate studies and utilise other educational opportunities. The National Football League Continuing Education Program (CEP) is one such programme that helps NFL players to prepare for life after football. Administered by the NFL Player Engagement staff, the CEP partners with colleges and universities across the country to design detailed plans to help players reach their educational goals. By working closely with academic advisors, these individualised educational plans may include opportunities to pursue coursework in a player’s franchise city, at his original institution or through distance learning via Internet-based coursework. Why can’t these programmes be replicated in India? Our government administration should try and make some reforms in the education system that may encourage children to play sport and pursue it if they choose alongwith their academics. Of course only these reforms will not help unless the sportsperson is willing to do his bit. The sportsperson should be willing to put in that extra effort to keep a healthy balance between sport and studies. The priority of the parents and the child has to be very clear (here I emphasise on ‘parents’ because they are great influences on their children). Certain optionals like birthday parties and festival celebrations, television serials and movies, picnics and vacations, shopping jaunts etc. might need to be sacrificed. I remember going through my childhood with a routine of school-badminton-homework and projects-sleep. There really was no time for anything else. At the end of it all, like a lot of other sportspersons, I too managed. But this was only until I graduated. Though I wanted to study architecture, there was no opportunity available for me to do that alongwith my badminton career. In a country like India where one’s future depends on education alone and that education means only marks and percentages, we need to get the society to believe in the benefits of sport and facilitate participation in it. Education should be taken sportingly and sport should be a part of the education curriculum. Then excellence may be achieved in education AND sports.