'I Ain't Preaching What I Ain't Doing': Pullela Gopichand Explains His Point Of View, With Example Closer Home
In an interaction with News18 Sports, Pullela Gopichand elaborated his recent statement on why middle-class parents in India shouldn't invest their all into making their child pick up a sport.
Former India shuttler Pullela Gopichand has made headlines over the past week after he said in an interview that investing everything in sports is a big risk for middle-class parents in India. While several sportspersons supported his views, a few people didn’t, like Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath.
But that is a result of any opinion and Gopichand has explained quite a few times why he said what he did.
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The former shuttler has revealed that he did something similar for his son Vishnu while letting his daughter Gayatri go on to pursue badminton, depending on their personal decisions and the ones that he made as a parent.
“Vishnu has been a sub-junior national champion, an Asian medallist and a BRICS champion. He played badminton from a very early age till the time he was about 17. He is now at Loughborough University pursuing a ‘foundation course’ which makes kids ready for graduation, for whatever they miss out on during school days because of professional sport. He now plays badminton as well as is continuing his studies in business management," Gopichand said while speaking to News18 Sports.
“That’s the college I’ve taken for him because I know the realities of sports. I’m not preaching what I’m not doing. This is exactly what I did with Vishnu," Gopichand added.
“As far as Gayatri is concerned, she is top 10 in the world. That’s where you should, as a parent and as a country, if you reach that level, I think it’s very important to invest your energy into the athletes who can bring world-class medals. She is thankfully at a place where badminton is her career," Gopichand said.
So what exactly did the former shuttler say? He explains how it is important for even elite sportspersons to have a job, to secure a future.
“A good fallback or a safety net is important for them because, God forbid, somebody gets an injury and they have to stop playing the sport, then what is the option you have," Gopichand asks.
“Jobs have dried up over time because the number of people who are playing the sport has increased immensely. What I am highlighting is the need for an exit strategy. My plea at the moment is to at least first take care of Olympians, Commonwealth medallists, Asian Games medallists and national champions," Gopichand says.
“Let us get that one layer sorted out. Then once we sort that out, let’s come down and get another layer sorted out," Gopichand adds while giving the example of Gayatri’s doubles partner Treesa Jolly and Tanisha Crasto, who is an Olympian, none of whom have jobs yet.
On most occasions, parents, who find their children interested in picking up a sport, give their all into it, only to realise a few years later, that probably it wasn’t the best decision.
“For example, at 13 and 14, you realise that this person is no longer going to be a world-class athlete. Let’s transition him away and maybe have something like a bridge class for them, wherein in a year they learn what they have missed in school for the last few years and then get back to a normal schooling system," Gopichand says.
“In case you have played for the country at the highest level and you didn’t make it big, let us look at getting you on board and skilling you so that you’re good and ready for a career outside of sport," Gopichand adds.
“Those scholarships from universities and those job or skill training from the industry, these are the things which I would look at," Gopichand explains.
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