A blessing or blight: How can COVID-19 help in effective understanding of grassroots development in Sports?

As citizens, we often realize the change in our routines pretty quickly and adapt to it quite well. No doubt, this COVID-19 pandemic has done a considerable amount of damage to the psyche of a normal individual as it has done to the economies around the world. Statistics show, more & more people are tested +ve for COVID-19, no. of deaths are also increasing day by day [COVID-2019 situation reports].

But, how can the “lockdown” help in effective grassroots development in Sports?

By Antriksh Jaiswal & Hitesh Mangtani.

The global economies are hit hard by this healthcare disaster and sportswriters across the world have written extensively on how this is impacting sports across the globe. They have deliberately pointed out the gloom-ridden impact of what experts have termed as a deadly virus. Not to miss the suspension of sporting events of national and international importance. Now try & recollect instances from the past, Sports has been the savior for global economies for decades, be it a world war or a global health pandemic like this one, specifically Spanish flue-1918 (Duffley, 2020) or SARS-2002 (Noy & Shields, 2019).

Cancellation/postponement of regional, national & international sports events has further amplified the fear. Because, every sporting dimension had been there & done it for the global leaders like carving a way out of impossible situations allowing each member of our community to enjoy the feeling of being safe with a sense of pride to be able to handle the situation together, irrespective of the gender, nationality or generation.

These are not just words. This is a vision, where we believe in something & take a stand for it. As of today the cancellation or postponement is costing us a huge chunk, not just financially but psychologically & physically as well. Imagine the kind of mental strain a professional athlete would be going through, considering the current situation where they were totally up for the challenge before a new season. Try and imagine an athlete who will represent their Nation for the 1st time ever at the Olympics & Paralympic Games, the world's most awaited sporting event.

You train harder & harder every single day for 4-years, just so you can represent your country - the "National Flag" at the biggest sporting event. And now, we are all locked-up, trying to keep-up with the similar regime to be ready for another set of psychological & physical training, whenever the situation is under absolute control, before they will head out for further qualifications & finally be at the center stage to give their best to win that Olympic-Gold, that's what an athlete lives for.

Tokyo Olympic & Paralympics Games 2020 cancellation could have cost Japan a 1.5% contraction in GDP in the first place. Organizers also estimated the total cost of Tokyo 2020 at around ¥1.35 Tr ($12.6 Bn) which is a combined contribution of the city of Tokyo paying ¥ 597 Bn, Japanese Organizing Committee (JOC) paying ¥ 603 Bn, and the central government paying ¥ 150 Bn, and the regional sponsors the organizers were able to attract worth ¥ 348 Bn ($3.3 Bn) [What would an Olympics cancellation cost].

International football leagues cancellation is also going to make a significant impact as per the KPMG Football Benchmark Report: There's no 'home office' option for football & so will the NFL. If it gets delayed/canceled we can expect an estimated loss of $6 Bn. NBA, NHL along with MLB combined would also cost heavily (estimated $1 Bn) to the 3000+ broadcasters (Young, 2020). In India, IPL cancellation is going to cost BCCI ₹3,869.5 CR out of which ₹3,269.5 CR broadcast and streaming revenue, ₹ 200 CR & ₹ 400 CR of central sponsorship and title sponsorship revenue (Cancellation of IPL 2020). To put it in layman's terms, it's chaos everywhere & it is not calming down anytime soon.

That was strictly from a business perspective, but that’s not all!

When the world swerves precariously into the unknown, policymakers and individuals associated with sports need to rethink. We emphasize on the term 'rethink', because when something goes on in full swing without any cessation, humankind starts to take things for granted. Our sports ecosystem is a true testament to the fact that the sanctum of sports is laid on unpredictability and uncertainty. So, it becomes pragmatic and important to 'rethink' of the prevailing practices and approach towards the holistic and comprehensive development of sports at the grassroots level.

How about we talk about the work we do, to prepare our athletes to be at the center stage?

We all have learned while working in the industry that, if you wish to learn & progress than go out there and face the challenges. Don't we? But, how to do got out in the current situation, the lockdown. Social distancing seems to be the only way for now to try and tame the COVID19 beast. The time is ripe to think not about the blights but to rethink and channelize our energy on the possible blossoming of a movement to strengthen grassroots sport – a blessing in disguise.

But as a parent would you agree to send your kids out to play at all, even if the situation seems to be in full control in the coming months? How about we shed some extra light on, parent-participatory approach?

We need to get away with our traditional cognitive bias because sport is a non-linear function. The ‘bandwagon effect’ has made almost all the coaches and sports professionals follow a fixed method with regards to training and athlete development. No/very little importance is given to ‘Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD)’ which forms the crux of sports and games – from the cradle to being elites.

Sport serves as a harbinger of hope to humankind, and this is probably the perfect time for all of us to sit back and take note of the things that we can do to uplift sports and strengthen its very core – grassroots. To strengthen the base, the very first thing we as a community (including the coaches, trainers, administrators & managers) can do is "not panic" and try to create a calm & positive environment around us. Maintain it as long as our scientists come up with the cure/vaccine or any relevant permanent solution.

A mix of right planning and implementation approaches, we as sports management professionals can find a deep understanding of the matters related to the development of sports. Learning is critical because the dynamics of sports are flabbergasting. It is like a thriller movie where you anticipate the possibility of an outcome but your anticipation falls flat. We need to be more futuristic and tolerant towards the evolving forms of overall athlete training and development & we might need a strategic plan. How about we think of adding a little friendship factor to that? During this period, our high-paying elite performers can develop mechanisms to interact & learn from their counterparts from different corners of the world.

“Sports as a community needs to grow, a little sharing of thought & knowledge does not hurt”

Secondly, we can keep our kids involved. We will have to come up with daily routines for physical activity so our kids can be ready for the challenges, whenever the normalcy resumes in their respective regions. As professional coaches, trainers, administrators & managers we have to ensure every athlete undergoes a process where he/she evolves and becomes better not only at the sport but also as individuals. We as a society play a consequential role in the overall development of any athlete. The diffusion of wisdom and knowledge is a formidable aspect to learn and grow together as a community.

There something that the corporate's call "downtime", we are going through currently. Planning & strategizing is what this time can be utilized, where we plan for the roads lying ahead when everything is back to normal & we are fastened up with more work - to implement innovative ideas to ensure sport is more interesting & acceptable, while we raise the bar of excitement with all the love locked-up in our hearts currently.

Be it, kids or adults, there is always a factor where we have to keep believing ourselves first. This ensures the decisions we are going take will make things happen the way we intended to. As a kid, this is the most important part or else, how can we as parents expect them to learn & come up with ways to find solutions for any given situation? Right now all we need, is to invest in ideas, to help our kids be confident individuals, and for the overall development of the grassroots-level sports.

Now parents are the VVIP's here, because they are the monitoring system, the feedback system, the trainers & the biggest influencers who would motivate every child & ensure they follow the similar kind of regime which would help them cope-up with the psychological of being locked-down & not getting the opportunity to go outside, and express themselves and have FUN - the reason we all play a sport & fall in love with it every single time. Just to share an example, how about a game of Pictionary? An age-old adage – "A picture is worth a thousand words" can have a positive impact on the beautiful minds of young children, laying seeds towards the introduction & acceptance of sports.

So, what is the need of the hour?

We do what a cricketer does for every ball he/she faces - we play to the merit of the ball by watching it till the end. Considering the Indian scenario 'Right to Play' is on hold for a moment. It is quite understandable that space crunch leads to a little play area. But, the ball is still in our court & we decide what the outcome of this situation will be, not the other way around. How about each member of a typical household involves themselves in self-education and child education, through sports? Play an active role in developing the interest of their wards towards sports?

Elite athletes, who have achieved resounding excellence in their respective sport take responsibility & be the catalyst in disseminating information to their followers via social media on "why it is important for them to focus on nutrition, fitness and mental well-being". The spike in the use of social media during the lockdown can be a differentiating factor in interacting with the general public, especially for athletes, coaches and sports governing bodies. There is a point in the movie Chasing Mavericks, where Frosty agrees to train Jay to surf because he doesn't want it on his conscience & he said, “I am going to train you to survive”.

We, the Indian Sports Eco-system are going to train to train ourselves to survive, because this is about the choices we make in our lives, which either make us or break us. Media will play a huge role in promoting sports consciousness amongst the masses. An initiative by leading broadcasters to enable the telecast of archival footage of former matches & respective highlights, is kind of keeping us together. Sports and media has been a beautiful marriage of precision and luscious determination.

The buck should not stop here, the baton of promoting grassroots sport should be passed on. Media & Sports together can help in shaping the growth trajectory of grassroots sport, but there are a multitude of factors which are beyond the realms of policymakers as well. A few decades ago Robert Frost had rightly written:

“I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

Together we should take the road less traveled - the road that leads to enhancing and establishing strong foundations of grassroots sport. We all should feel the need to have that euphoria moment and a 'sigh of contentment'. In these unprecedented times an amalgamation of passion, discipline and dedication will lead to a redefining journey for all our stakeholders of the sports ecosystem.

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