In the midst of an elite panel, Ashwini Nachappa held her own with verve and offered the way forward for sports in Bengaluru at a panel discussion at the DH Bengaluru 2040 Summit on Friday.
Even with recently-appointed National Cricket Academy director V V S Laxman and Centre For Sports Excellence director Vivek Kumar on the panel — moderated by prominent sports lawyer Nandan Kamath — Ashwini was the loudest voice with her push for schools and universities to include sports into the curriculum.
“Schools need to learn how to use sports to build academics instead of shunning them,” said Ashwini, who is the principal of Karumbaiahs Academy For Learning and Sports in Kodagu. “Sports can really help children become better students, and everyone on this panel knows that we didn’t become good citizens because we were inside the four walls of the classroom.”
She then went on to highlight the apathy shown by the education department in imparting sports. “Did you know that there is a budget of Rs 3-4 crore for sports with the education department each year?”
“Basically, there is a fee that is being deducted towards sports infrastructure when you enrol your child. That means it’s also the duty of the education department to ensure that children are given space and time to play.”
Speaking of a nurturing space, Laxman delved into the role the NCA has played in improving the quality of cricket since its inception in the 2000s.
“One of the reasons the NCA is based in Bengaluru is because the weather here is always brilliant,” said Laxman, who moved to Bengaluru for the new role. “That helps cricketers train throughout the year in good weather. The NCA has always been a great place to ensure the development of cricket. It has not only generated fantastic cricketers, but it has also ensured that great talents can further their careers.”
When asked if that’s why Karnataka has become a conveyor belt of world-class talent, Laxman answered in the affirmative before adding: “There is a rich legacy of cricket in Karnataka. I remember seeing Roger (Binny) talking to Rahul (Dravid) when he was growing up. I then saw Rahul talking to (KL) Rahul. Now KL will talk to some U-19 kid, and he’s going to become the next in line. That’s how legacies work and when you have so many legends from here, you can always rely on getting more and more talent from here,” said the Hyderabadi.
Vivek, too, noted that Karnataka as a whole has a lot of talent, and now efforts should be made to improve infrastructure and the quality of coaches in Bengaluru. “We have come a long way in terms of infrastructure so that bit is being taken care of but the need now is to ensure that we keep teaching the coaches,” he said. “We need to ensure they are in the loop about all things coaching. They don’t even have to be world-class athletes themselves. They can just be passionate about sport and learning. That said, there needs to be a way we can involve more and more former athletes to improve sports in the city.
“That’s also one of the reasons we named our facility the Dravid-Padukone Academy for Excellence,” he added.
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