A nation deprived of sporting talent

A nation deprived of sporting talent

World Olympics, the world’s largest sporting event is currently under way where athletes from over hundred nations are participating. All these athletes hail from different national backgrounds. There are athletes from world’s most underdeveloped to most
developed areas, from democracies to dictatorships and republics to kingdoms. And the only thing common between all of them is the sporting sprit motivated by the national pride that urges them to take their best out and to display the best of their skills
and athletics acumen.

However, among all these over 10,000 passionate and enthusiastic athletes, there are performers who are only there in the event to mark their presence, their sporting acumen and preparation for the event is just not up to mark to even qualify for the real
show. Among such countries, Pakistan stands at the top.

Saying that Pakistan does not have sporting talent at all will be unjustified given the marvelous achievements of the nation’s sportsmen and women in various fields. There have been time when we have been world’s best Hockey team, enviable boxers, wrestlers
and weightlifters and of course cricketers. And those were the time when Pakistan was far poorer in terms of financial resources and sporting infrastructure.

Now, with having comparatively far better facilities, why is it so that from the population of over 180 million, we couldn’t produce runners, wrestlers, swimmers and other sportsmen who could at least make to the final rounds of the competitions. Is it because
the social and political inflictions rendered upon this nation have drained it out of all its energies, and people are only busy in making their both ends meet? Or is it because we have lost our complete interest into sports? The later statement of course
cannot be true, and the former cannot have two opinions about it.

Having in site big competitions like the Olympics, nations across the globe start preparing their athletes well before time and that too under the guidance of world class coaches. They not only provide state of the art infrastructure to the athletes, but
also take very well care of their financial and other needs. With a carefree mind, they become capable of having the representatives whose performance only add to the national pride in the comity of the nations.

If Pakistan also wants to find a place among such nations, it will have to set its priorities straight, and will have to invest into its athletes so that they can present and accentuate the real ‘soft face’ of this otherwise very negatively publicized country. 

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=31216

Posted by Fayyaz Yaseen on Aug 18 2012. Filed under Opinion, Pakistan, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry