Upcoming talents should be tapped properly: Former athlete

CHIKAMAGALUR: “The lack of national spirit, attitude and determination were some of the stumbling blocks in the path of our sportsmen to emerge as main contenders in the international sports competitions’’, said Uday K Prabhu, a former international athlete.

Uday, who participated as chief guest in the annual day programme of Sri Bhuvanendra Vidya Samsthe, told “There are numerous hidden talents in the country, but we are failing to tap them at an appropriate level.”

“If this unpolished raw gems were polished and given shape by imparting a continuous, systematic training with coaching experts besides providing necessary infrastructure then there would not be a reason why we should not be on par with other countries like USA, Russia, China, Germany in pillaging medals in Olympic games and other international sports competitions,” he questioned.

The sportsmen should have a commitment and goal without these it is foolish thing to dream for winning a medal in the international meets.

“Goal setting is first step and rest is sheer hard work’’, he said.

He regretted that it is hard to find a true motivator nowadays, who can inspire enthusiasm among young upcoming talents to achieve their goal.

The stiff competition seen during the admission to professional courses is also forcing the students to drift away from sports activities, he said. Even students, who succeeded in getting an admission to professional courses through sports quota, desist them immediately after admitting the course.

To achieve the goal in the international sports competition, the sportsmen should have the commitment like terrorists, who were ready even to sacrifice their life to achieve the desired goal.

The country, of late, stunned the world by its stupendous development in IT sector also has the potential to excel in sports field too, he felt.

He alleged that media was responsible for decreasing interest in sports activity, particularly in athletic field by discriminating in giving publicity. The media, which gives priority for cricket and tennis, did not give same publicity for Anju for her excellent long jump in the international sports meet.

Uday K Prabhu, who won gold medal in the 400 meters competition in 1975 Asian Athletics meet held at Seoul in South Korea, has bagged double silver medal in the 8th Asian games held at Bangkok.

In fact, he was the only person from the country represented Asian games twice and in the World Cup during 1977 held at Dussaldorf in West Germany and in 1979 at Montreal in Canada.

To encourage the upcoming young athletes, the Bangalore Sports Club with the financial support of Infosys executives like Mohandas Pai, Ramadas Kamath, Abhay Jain along with himself were spending more than Rs 15 lakhs per year since five years for conducting various State level athletic meets in different parts of State and also award the winners with cash prizes.