Elite sport has become more commercial than ever and while the whole sporting ecosystem benefits from the influx of money, it also means that practicing sports is becoming increasingly inaccessible for those who do not aspire to or have no way of becoming elite athletes (most of us in India).
Under the Olympic Charter, the practice of sport is defined as a human right. Not a privilege of the few but a fundamental right of all humans. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) specifies that every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport without discrimination of any kind, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, or social status. Though it is sad that the Olympic movement is slowly being extinguished due to waning interest (commercialisation again), the moments we have witnessed so far in Japoly have shown us that the three ethos of these Games, the crux of competing in any sport in fact, are worth fighting to preserve. Winning and losing, though they may have the final say in the moment, are not the point of playing. It is the camaraderie formed between the players, the culture that competition builds – that of Friendship, Excellence, and Respect.
Whatever we have managed to show on Instagram – those moments of skills and grit that makes us hold our heads in awe and leave us thumping the board in unison – is a very small percentage of what really goes on in and around that little square of caged turf every weekend from noon till late evening. For no camera stands a chance to really capture the depth of the colors that are at play. How every winner seems to grow taller. Or the way the losers’ shoulders drop, the way they walk out alone while everyone else is going wild and celebrates. There’s no capturing the will-power of those who keep showing up again and again every weekend, their pride wounded by defeat but spirits stronger still. And then those moments when it all seems to click, when they find out that they had it in them all along – how can all this be captured? The friendships, the camaraderie, the support, the empathy – these things can only be felt.
The future, of course, remains uncertain, as it always has been. But then conformity frightens us more than uncertainty ever could. We have found a path, of course, but we do not want to look too far ahead and miss out on the joy of discovering it further. So we will keep asking questions, keep telling stories. And we will keep believing in the players. Always.