Break the glass ceiling by winning 2020 !

A few months back I saw this advertisement about a mixed gender Cricket T-20 match . Being a girl who is enthusiastic about cricket I was looking forward to it. Now I have realised that it has been turned down by BCCI. What does this tell us about our system ? That a challenge like this cannot be accepted by a big board like BCCI. That women are not given chances like this. That we have a glass ceiling above us through which we can see the sky but when we try to cross it we are stopped by it. We as a generation  need to break this ceiling and only then we will fly high.

Over last two years, I have read many autobiographies on many Indian sportsmen and sportswomen. They are all so inspirational. The amount of hard work , determination ,perseverance , the struggles , the disappointments and the successes put into words are portrayed in these book. It is truly a roller coaster ride. Once you are up and then you are down. They teach you an important message, “If you must dream, you must dream big !”

I recently read this book called Go, India’s sporting transformation, I have come to the conclusion that there are two very big challenges in Indian sports. One, cricket dominance and two, male dominance.
Cricket dominance

The craze for cricket in India is incredible, who would disagree ? I myself am a big fan of cricket but I don’t watch it everyday and just see highlights of the matches, so many people would disagree that I am a true cricket fan. And that is the problem , people just want to see cricket all day long. The fan base for a cricketer is huge. Even the under 19 cricketers are famous. They have so many advertisements lined for them. All they have to do is hit 2 sixes in an over in IPL.That’s it you are a superstar. 

This is also the complaint of many sportspeople that cricket is so much appreciated and loved by Indians that other sports are not even taken care of. The cricketers have everything taken care of while the other sportsmen and women have to do everything by themselves, from booking flight tickets to hotels etc. The other sportsmen in their initial stages are not even supported moreover not recognized. The only way they get attention is after they won a gold in a big tournament or most of the time when they do well in the Olympics. For example , Abhinav Bindra became a superstar only after he won gold in the Olympics. Dipa Karmakar and Deepa Malik too.

Now there has been a little change , badminton and kabaddi are now a very popular choice as well. This was brought because of the introduction of leagues in their respective sports. Leagues are a fast moving and money making event where a group of sports clubs play each other over a period for a championship. Indian Premier League IPL is the biggest of all . It has taken cricket hype to the next level. PKL- Pro Kabaddi League is also a big hit among the crowds. It is in its 7th season now and the local players are earning a lot of popularity and money. Badminton was brought into the limelight after the amazing performance of the players from the Gopichand academy . The Gopichand academy has been successful in producing India’s best badminton players like Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Kidambi srikanth. We need a system like that in every sport to develop the young players. Because of the rise of badminton, a new league has been introduced,Premier Badminton league which is also gaining spectators.

Second problem is male dominance in sports.

The beauty of the sport increases when women participate in them ! They bring so much elegance to sports and are no less competitive than men. They also have the hunger to win and are more eager to prove those people wrong who don’t believe in them ,who believe women can’t play sports only men can. That investing in the lives of young girls who want to pursue sports is useless. They have to start a family after all ! Wow, we are about to enter 2020 I guess ! We have women proving themselves again and again.India has outstanding sports women like Saina Nehwal , PV Sindhu, Mary Kom , Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami etc.They have been praised and appreciated but are they appreciated as much as they deserve? Why do people not support a girl in her initial stages of her sporting life. Why does she have to work extra hard to grab the attention of sponsors or any public rather so that she can progress in her sport.Well the last Olympics India won 2 medals that too both by women, PV Sindhu won silver in badminton and Deepa Malik won bronze in wrestling and wrestling is supposed to be a Male sport ! They proved that women too have a future in sports. They don’t need extra attention just equal attention. There sports tournaments should not be taken lightly because there will be less people to see the game but rather given an equal chance because a sports game is after all a sports game. 

Badminton too is where girls have shone. With the likes of Saina nehwal, who won bronze in the 2012 olympics and PV Sindhu who won a silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Saina Nehwal was world number one for a long time. PV Sindhu is shining and on her way to World dominance. 

Mary Kom who has won the world championship 6 times. She has mentioned in her autobiography Unbreakable how much she had to struggle. Even when she was making a mark in the international circuit she was not acknowledged. First of all, she was a boxer and moreover a woman boxer. But she has now beaten all odds, settled a family, won championships, an Olympic medal, raised 2 children and now runs her own academy. She has won competitions after giving birth.But still I believe she does not get the amount of recognition or money she deserves. 

Money. This is also a big issue. Why is a female sportsperson paid less than a male. She has the same amount of training , hard work and sacrifice. She also is on the same level as him. Then why ,why is this system followed ?The most experienced and talented women’s cricketer is paid less than a new male cricketer who has just debuted. Why ? Why are there such less viewers of the women’s cricket when women reached the champions world cup final and were runners up. Is the reason that their game is not too exciting. Well then you must see Harmanpreet Kaur’s 176 again Australia in the semi finals of the champions trophy. 

We also have youngsters like Hima Das who won gold in the 400 metres sprint in the under 19 world championships. The support for her after that was absolutely amazing. 

Dipa Karmakar, the gymnast who finished 4th in the 2016 Rio Olympics, was something that India had never had. A gymnast ! Just missed a medal by a whisker !

Then there is Anu Vaidyanathan. Not many have heard of her. In the generation of cricket , triathlon is not even heard of  and talk about male dominance the competition she has competed in is called UltraMAN. Way back in 2009, while working towards her PhD, she became the first Asian woman to complete the Ultraman Canada event, placing 6th amongst women,in the absence of any significant sponsorship. Ultra man is 10 km swim then 420 km of cycling and last 84 km of running and all back to back. 

We need to give these girls a shot too. They should have a league too And it should be side by side with the male leagues. like how during IPL , they formed 4 teams consisting of women cricketers from around the world. it was held in jaipur and a big hit. We need more of these.
If we can get over these problems there is not limits our sportsmen and women cannot achieve. so lets all together hit the six, punch an upper cut, smash hard or claim a perfect ten to break the glass ceiling so that we all can fly high together.
Happy New Year 2020.