Not long ago, I read a story on The News Minute that Prajwal had written about the efforts being made to support and coach some of the elite sporting talents that were robbed of proper training owing to their humble familial backgrounds, by an NGO in Uttara Kannada.
Fast forward 2 months, and we were interning with Bridges of Sports and hosting these athletes in Manipal, as they went through their rigorous 15 day High Performance Camp under the Centre for Sports Science, Medicine & Research, MAHE to enhance their peak performance and condition them into being the next generation of Olympic caliber Athletes for the Country!
From largely Tribal backgrounds, hailing from communities like the Siddi, Lambani and Golla tribes in the Uttara Kannada belt, these children are a natural athletic talent.
The Siddis especially, an Indo-African Tribe believed to have brought into India as slaves by Portuguese traders in the 1600s stand out starkly from the rest. The white supremacy and oppression of that era is well known and many escaped and retreated into the thick forest cover. Many others were abandoned in the foreign country by their masters. They have since been living in relative isolation without the rest of the country aware of their existence. Today, they can be found in pockets of Karnataka, Andhra, Gujarat and Maharashtra speaking the local languages like any other Indian but retaining their distinctly African look.
In the 1980s the Sports Authority of India (SAI) recognized their talent and constituted a program to train the Siddis in Athletics. The Program bombed as there was no effort made towards making the living conditions better. The larger outside community was a culture shock for these Siddis and they couldn't adjust to the travel schedules, unscientific training methods and untrained competition goals of the Authority.
From largely Tribal backgrounds, hailing from communities like the Siddi, Lambani and Golla tribes in the Uttara Kannada belt, these children are a natural athletic talent.
The Siddis especially, an Indo-African Tribe believed to have brought into India as slaves by Portuguese traders in the 1600s stand out starkly from the rest. The white supremacy and oppression of that era is well known and many escaped and retreated into the thick forest cover. Many others were abandoned in the foreign country by their masters. They have since been living in relative isolation without the rest of the country aware of their existence. Today, they can be found in pockets of Karnataka, Andhra, Gujarat and Maharashtra speaking the local languages like any other Indian but retaining their distinctly African look.
In the 1980s the Sports Authority of India (SAI) recognized their talent and constituted a program to train the Siddis in Athletics. The Program bombed as there was no effort made towards making the living conditions better. The larger outside community was a culture shock for these Siddis and they couldn't adjust to the travel schedules, unscientific training methods and untrained competition goals of the Authority.
The program was soon scrapped and the Siddis were abandoned yet again. You would find some today in cities working blue collar jobs in the Railways or other Government Services which employ on the basis of athletic ability, but the majority disillusioned by the constant abuse and exploitation that the rest of the country used them for, have fallen back to their homes in the villages and refuse any attempt at athletic rehabilitation. The hesitation is warranted for fear of a rehash of what happened previously!
While the abject failure of SAI's initiative was acknowledged, no attempt at acting upon it was consciously made for the next 30 odd years keeping the medal tally of the Indian contingency at the Olympics abysmally low. Forget winning medals at the Games, for a country of 1.3 billion, the number of athletes who qualified for the Olympics at London were 8! For all the love we shower on Cricket and Club Football, our performance at the highest of sporting events remained one to not speak of. Soft reboots of the Program resurfaced in 2009 and even 2016 to much less effect.
Siddis even today remain one of the most promising of athletes across even in sports like Kabaddi and Handball, but due to the social oppression, and lack of proper coaching they don't go beyond the District or State Sports meets robbing the Nation off their abilities. It's sad to think about one of the biggest minorities in our country and a tribe that most deserved the Scheduled Tribe benefits only got acknowledged as one as late as earlier this year.
Recognizing the innate talent among these athletes was just scraping the surface. Following that up with proper training, conditioning and nutrition is a must for any athlete. Due attention to that wasn't given. And in this particular case, a gentle and gradual exposure to the mainstream society was of paramount importance. Pulling out people who's whole world so far was their village and the neighborhood and taking them all over the country was a culture shock they couldn't do well with. And even if he's well conditioned and trained, what's it going to do if he isn't accustomed to travel and falls sick when he's in the Competition Venue due to travel?
While the abject failure of SAI's initiative was acknowledged, no attempt at acting upon it was consciously made for the next 30 odd years keeping the medal tally of the Indian contingency at the Olympics abysmally low. Forget winning medals at the Games, for a country of 1.3 billion, the number of athletes who qualified for the Olympics at London were 8! For all the love we shower on Cricket and Club Football, our performance at the highest of sporting events remained one to not speak of. Soft reboots of the Program resurfaced in 2009 and even 2016 to much less effect.
Siddis even today remain one of the most promising of athletes across even in sports like Kabaddi and Handball, but due to the social oppression, and lack of proper coaching they don't go beyond the District or State Sports meets robbing the Nation off their abilities. It's sad to think about one of the biggest minorities in our country and a tribe that most deserved the Scheduled Tribe benefits only got acknowledged as one as late as earlier this year.
Recognizing the innate talent among these athletes was just scraping the surface. Following that up with proper training, conditioning and nutrition is a must for any athlete. Due attention to that wasn't given. And in this particular case, a gentle and gradual exposure to the mainstream society was of paramount importance. Pulling out people who's whole world so far was their village and the neighborhood and taking them all over the country was a culture shock they couldn't do well with. And even if he's well conditioned and trained, what's it going to do if he isn't accustomed to travel and falls sick when he's in the Competition Venue due to travel?
These shortcomings weren't acknowledged, and the blame was thrown on the athletes bringing an abrupt close to the attempt at harnessing the sporting talents of the Siddis. They were all but exploited like sheep for wool, for their athletic ability without regard for their humanity and well being leading to them vehemently expressing opposition to anyone who came bearing similar interests in mind.
A whole generation of athletes were lost, and the future of the country's Olympic aspirations is still up in the air. While some Siddis shined through and have since settled into jobs elsewhere, there still is a whole new generation with talent waiting to be tapped!
The approach is different this time. A not-for-profit start-up, the brainchild of Nitish Chinwar, incubated at the IIM - Bangalore Incubation Centre with a holistic goal in mind, to train the Siddis along with other children who show exemplary sporting talent with the best of coaches and equipment. With support from some of the biggest names in philanthropy and education like Infosys Foundation, the Dell Foundation, The Loyola Education Society, Teach for India, Manipal Academy of Higher Education and many others, the NGO is looking towards recognizing the best athletes with natural timings close to that of the National Records through the PATANG League and putting them through a world class athletic training program while also fully sponsoring their education and stay, working on their personality traits, communication skills, cognitive and behavioral abilities and other soft skills to help them make the transition onto mainstream society to represent the country in the highest of levels!
A whole generation of athletes were lost, and the future of the country's Olympic aspirations is still up in the air. While some Siddis shined through and have since settled into jobs elsewhere, there still is a whole new generation with talent waiting to be tapped!
The approach is different this time. A not-for-profit start-up, the brainchild of Nitish Chinwar, incubated at the IIM - Bangalore Incubation Centre with a holistic goal in mind, to train the Siddis along with other children who show exemplary sporting talent with the best of coaches and equipment. With support from some of the biggest names in philanthropy and education like Infosys Foundation, the Dell Foundation, The Loyola Education Society, Teach for India, Manipal Academy of Higher Education and many others, the NGO is looking towards recognizing the best athletes with natural timings close to that of the National Records through the PATANG League and putting them through a world class athletic training program while also fully sponsoring their education and stay, working on their personality traits, communication skills, cognitive and behavioral abilities and other soft skills to help them make the transition onto mainstream society to represent the country in the highest of levels!
The NGO's work is going full steam ahead, with this summer being a very eventful one. A 2 month long summer camp at Loyola School, Mundgod where all these athletes trained under Coach Rizwan Bendigeri bookended by the Camp at Manipal has really brought a lot of change in the confidence levels and the sporting abilities of the athletes.
With school year starting for the Campers the coming Monday, the training schedule is to be a little lighter, but the goal is clear and shining brighter than ever.
It's one small step that li'l Kevin takes as he runs, but that is to multiply hundredfold in the strides India is to take towards Olympic Glory!
Read more about the efforts made towards rehabilitating and training the underprivileged children of the Siddi Community on the Bridges of Sports Website
With school year starting for the Campers the coming Monday, the training schedule is to be a little lighter, but the goal is clear and shining brighter than ever.
It's one small step that li'l Kevin takes as he runs, but that is to multiply hundredfold in the strides India is to take towards Olympic Glory!
Read more about the efforts made towards rehabilitating and training the underprivileged children of the Siddi Community on the Bridges of Sports Website