Somdev Dev Varman ...

[knarayen]

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[jaydeep]

Buji's interview about the current state of Indian tennis and administration.

ATP rankings won’t affect TOPS funding, says Somdev Devvarman

I think we currently have over 50 people ranked in the ATP, I am not sure of the exact number, but overnight on January 1, it will be somewhere between 10 to 15. Obviously there's pros and cons of that. There are different ways of looking at it. One is that we don’t have that many players ranked, but the whole world is going through the same thing.
Yes, it's an accomplishment to be ranked 7-, 8-, 900-something in the world but it's also time to start thinking about where they are getting these points from. Are we playing at the right tournaments? Are we playing against the higher-ranked players? Are we competing against the best?
Of the pool of 50 I mentioned, most of them don't really want to pursue college or higher education. I for one, my parents made sure that I had a full college degree before I stepped on the Tour, so I joined the Tour a lot later than most others. I think there's a lot of value in that. I think Indian children can start thinking about getting a college degree with a scholarship overseas, keeping in mind there's life after tennis as well to look after.

Here's the thing about professional sport: at the highest level, countries are trying to do their best for their players in order to succeed at that level. If we are not for whatever reasons – whether it's political or internal or management or anything — if we are not doing the same things, we are going to be left behind. At some point, we're gonna have to look in and think about what are we doing and where we need to improve at. This is no criticism. This is just how any business or a start-up evolves. It's not about a blame-game but more of constructive criticism as any athlete would look at himself and think of the areas he or she needs to improve in. I think the associations also need to look at themselves the same way and I am not sure if we are doing that. That's really the red-flag.

Oh, big problem. But here's the bigger issue. Yes, they need to have bigger plans and they need to fund-raise, but what's the point of fund-raising if you don't know how to spend the funds that you raise! It's not about raising 5 million dollars, it's about what do you have now and how can you use it. And if you do use 5 million dollars, how do you spend it, what are the areas that needs to be allocated and who are the right people that are in those spaces. So I think it's a lot about... listen, funds have never been the key to have success in sport. I guarantee you that Kenya doesn't have the best marathon funds in the world, I am sure they don't. Brazil doesn't have the best soccer funding in the world. But they have systems, they have culture and through those a proper system is built. I think it's much more than just money. Yes, funding is required. Yes, infrastructure is required but so are other things.
Personally I have always believed that the top-down approach is not the only way of going about it. For example, TOPS funding, or Khelo India funding. While I am very appreciative of the government's effort – that's a great sign that we have started — I think improvement needs to be in a sense not look at two athletes and fund them but in fact looking at why are there only two and not 25. Why don't we created a system where there are 25 and not just two. If we start doing that consistently over a period of time, that's how you're going to find success. That's what success should mean

[knarayen]

Well said by Somdev. The culture of sports and tennis in particular needs to be built up from the grass roots in India - no question that this is the main area that needs attention.

Prof

[prasen9]

This will only happen in a mass scale if Sports is a subject that students must "pass" in order to pass school. If school is to educate us for life, why not require physical education as a subject too? Given the urbanization and the middle-class-ization of India and the consequent fattening of midsections, this will be of huge benefit to the nation in terms of reducing public health expenditures and improving the citizens' quality of life. A by-product may be wins at international tournaments.

Even without that we will improve but not by leaps and bounds.

[ornatebrute]

A lot of schools do have Physical Education as a subject. For instance, at my school (ICSE board)in 9th & 10th, we had an option to choose between Computer Sciences and PET. A lot of students do prefer PET over CS.
In PET, you have 100 marks theory (including anatomy/physiology of various organ systems) + any two sports that you would like to choose, and 100 marks practicals (where my friends had to do some push/pull-ups, etc.)

Slowly, but surely, it is being planned to implement PET as a subject at the initial years.

[arjun2761]

That is good to hear! A fitter population not only reduces health care costs and improves quality of life but it also improves productivity. So, it is a win-win for the country in all aspects. If it increases our medal count a bit, that is a nice by-product...

[prasen9]

Exactly. (Man, I am scared how much I am agreeing with Arjun. I miss those "friendly" spats. I am growing older. )

That is a good first step. But, I do not want it to be an elective. And, my daughter, here in the U.S., takes "online" gym, which is a required course! That is sort of a joke. I hope the "exam" at the end is reasonably rigorous. Shape up or don't graduate. A bit draconian but you can look at improvement made instead of overall fitness.

[Sin Hombre]

I had PE as something to pass for the 12th standard almost 15 years back now.

Unfortunately prasen, it was not rigorous. There is supposed to be an external examiner for the physical examination but he was already greased and everyone passes. Probably the extremely fat kid got 28/30 instead of a full score.

[knarayen]

Knowing India, the majority of students and parents will find a way to game the system if introduced as a "class" in school.

Sports has to get recognised as a viable profession and a lucrative career if one dedicates oneself to it. When educators/parents/students start to see that hey, if i become a sports professional, i have a career way beyond my playing years and can keep going till the end of my days as a coach, owning a sports franchise, managing players as an agent, in media/tv etc, and financially successful (most important) then gradually the waking up happens among the majority and the search for talent is nurtured from early days - when parents too can smell the success because they see it all around them. Sachin is a firm believer in this approach and i agree with him.

I think this is already happening in India - too slowly for most of us - already so many players are on the pro tour - much more than in my day!

Prof

[prasen9]

No, I am talking about an external evaluator and a school-leaving examination. If we implement this just for lip-service that will not work. But, just as our examinations on say mathematics works because by and large we take it seriously except for some amount of cheating that will be there in any system, we should have a similar rigorous examination for physical fitness.

[Atithee]

How about starting with just the ability to swim as a requirement for high school graduation? It ought to be an indispensable life skill that will also serve as PE requirement.

[prasen9]

I'll take that.

[sameerph]

Hard hitting interview by Somdev on AITA plans for centre of excellence -

‘What has been your vision for tennis in last 30 years?’: Somdev Devvarman slams AITA after fallout

[gbelday]

How about starting with just the ability to swim as a requirement for high school graduation? It ought to be an indispensable life skill that will also serve as PE requirement.

This is it. If we can get schools in India to make this a graduation requirement (from elementary or middle schools), it would be amazing. Just allocate some of the money that goes towards "education reform". Work with the private industry and charge additional fee if you have to.

[gbelday]

Hard hitting interview by Somdev on AITA plans for centre of excellence -

‘What has been your vision for tennis in last 30 years?’: Somdev Devvarman slams AITA after fallout

This is so good to read. Somdev has his heart in the right place. Without a proper and a systematic approach (in Tennis specifically), we as a country have to rely on an occasional Leander, Sania to succeed. Somdev was spotted by Boland, Leander had his dad, Prajnesh also made it this far thanks to his dad. AITA can't take credit for even one single player. What are they really doing?