Bring lesser-known sports out of the shadows

The 1970 silver medal-winning Indian team. Avinash Sarang (extreme left), Tarun Goswami, Ashok Biswas, Piyush Mitra, Bharat Merchant, Samir Kapadia, Abdul Mutlib and Umaid Singh (extreme right)

The sports pages of this newspaper had an interesting story for sports buffs. The Indian men's water polo team, which reached its zenith in the sport, winning a silver medal at the 1970 Bangkok Asian Games, held a virtual meet recently.

This was to commemorate a famous, and, unfortunately never-after win. The men's water polo team did win a bronze in the 1982 Asian Games, but we have not managed to emulate these high points after that.

Mixed with the history, this virtual meet had the swimming federation of the country recognising and acknowledging that water polo continues to languish in the shadow of its more famous cousin, swimming.

We take heart in the fact that swimming honchos and water polo supporters did not just lament, but had a roadmap to bring this sport back on the radar.

From identifying talent to an extensive coaching network and then, looking in mofussil areas for the champs of tomorrow, wheels were whirring in the heads of the water polo wise and warriors.

It would be good if this is put into practice, as it is the opportune time to focus on the lesser-known sports and actually have a plan to haul them out of the shadows of their better-known counterparts.

Right now, it is a relatively slow time for sport - use this window to plan and find out how we can nurture talent in other sports. We can start with the lowest-rung - schools.

While many schools have swimming classes, how many offer water polo training or classes? Next to none. This is one lacuna which we can attempt to fill. Start by planning a rock-solid foundation and go on from there.