Sporting abilities of South Asians

[cactuslily58]

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Watching the EURO Cup, a few thoughts came to mind which I'd like to share and seek views from friends in India, Pakistan, BanglaDesh,Nepal & Sri Lanka.

We live in region which has a tradition of sports at rural level.With the exception of Cricket & Hockey ( which I do not wish to discuss simply coz too much is done & said on these sports), we have not made much headway in any team sport.

Football is immensely popular in our part of the world, why have none of us virtually nothing to show in this sport. We keep admiring the stamina , passing, aggression,technique etc etc of teams from countries which are smaller than most of the states in our country.. why are we lagging behind ?

Politics & partisanship aside, do we not have it in us ? Do economic considerations prevent players from doing well ? Are we worse off than South American & African countries economically ? If they can produce world class teams why can't any of us South Asian neighbors do the same ?

Countries in our immediate proximity towards SE Asia ,Middle East & Central Asia do much better than all of us put together .. why not us ?

[Flintlock]

That "we don't have it in us" theory is pure bulls*it.

Even the Chinese were supposed to be incapable of winning medals in the 80s.
Well, they've managed to turn that around.

In the modern world, it takes a massive amount of investment an dedication to produce an olympic athelete.
Its right up there with producing fighter planes.

China has built huge athelete-factories with legions of dedicated talent scouts, coaches, and a massive import of western expertise.
Kids are spotted very early and trained exclusively for the olympics.

[Awesome]

Lack of interest.

The very reason why hockey is dying in India and Pakistan.

When there is lack of interest you need massive academies sponsored by enthusiast. Think about it, you host a football tournament and no one comes to watch it, why would the government invest in it?

[zpak]

Thats why the IPL is such a huge deal. We finally have companies and private individual coming in and sponsoring teams from various cities. I think countries like Sril Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh need to have private city based teams and join the IPL and change it to the South Asian Cricket League and have an annual competition. Something along the lines of UEFA for football.

We could also do something like that for promoting football as well. However we need to find non-government sponsors. That is difficult in the region.

[Tiki Tam Tam]

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Unlike China, USSR and the East European countries of yore, South Asian countries do not have any programme that groom a sportman from childhood and catering for all his needs,, including education, basic necessities etc.

That is why there is a lack of sportsmen and women as in those countries.

The rural youth do not have the luxury to train on their own in a scientific manner with latest technology and coach, nor do they have the money for the correct diet and sports medicine supervision.