The fourth session of day three of the RevSportz Trailblazers Conclave 3.0 took place to talk about the transformation of the funding landscape for Indian sports. The guests were Suhas Yathiraj, Paralympics medallist, Jude Gomes, Prof. Vijay Pereira, Amrut Joshi, and Akshay Modi. It was moderated by Prantik Mazumdar.
Amrut Joshi was enlightened about the help from governments to improve overall sports. Jude also came up with an excellent thought by mentioning that sports need to be celebrated overall, not just for medals, to improve the quality and competitiveness.
By expressing his love for Kolkata, Yathiraj emphasised that funding is just one of the main factors. “In current days, people take up sports to become fit enough physically and mentally. Corporates, governments, and obviously the athletes’ support should be in one line for the success,” he added.
Vijay Pereira also asked about more concrete solutions to see Indian sports at the top. The current processes and what we can do, both need to be considered, and for that, all need to be together.
Yathiraj again added: “See, if India hosts the 2036 Olympics, then every state will want that the most number of medals come from that place only. The processes behind that will be different based on stats, but the aim remains the same.”
While speaking about the same matter, Jude Gomes said that for them (Ageas Federal), the aim is for a healthy nation, and as always, they will always be there to support sports activities and events.
Talking about the importance of the grassroots level, Yathiraj said: “Sport is a high-risk and high-reward game. Anyone taking up sports needs to understand that, otherwise, it will not help. Having said that, in the current scenario, governments and corporates come together for the success of athletes, and that backing should be from the grassroots level, as that will help the athletes to get adapted.”
While concluding the session, Akshay Modi said that it is not easy, but everyone should step up and needs to go through exactly what is required for further benefits for the future betterment of Indian sports.