Court ruling makes Indian Olympic Association accountable under RTI Act
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Love being an image-maker for people who want to be brands, and brands who want to be more human!
Living life as a pointillist, with a magnifying glass, in full-immersion mode
Sports for change enthusiast [http://www.linkedin.com/groups/IndianSportsNetwork]
The IPL 3-YouTube/Google exclusive online-deal is an exciting pairing of two giants who dominate their jungles.
In one shot, the IPL has gone from being old style-TV broadcast rights, closely-guarded property, to jumping into the hyper-connected online world, grabbing ‘global reach on a single platform’ as Lalit Modi remarked today.
The benefits: sponsorship & advertising revenues, expanding viewership by millions worldwide at a fraction of the cost, developing new global markets for cricket.
The IPL draws players and viewers from around the world – South Asia, Africa, Australia, and the UK. Modi has spoken often about taking the IPL to the US market, which has a large population of Indians and South Asians who love cricket! Will a US-based team makes it to IPL 4 – intriguing thought that!
The spoiler could possibly be using Orkut for community. Seriously, why Orkut? Or maybe that’s just the plan for Google to revive a service that’s lost mindshare.
The deal is an interesting precedent for the business of sport – global as well as India.
Beyond the biggies - football, baseball, basketball and in India, cricket – IPL-YouTube’s success could open up new ways of marketing sport that aren’t at the same level.
YouTube in theory will tap into large viewership base, at cost-effective rates, in relevant demographics - the one thing that advertisers and sponsors want. The medium allows creative promotions, giving brands a challenging platform to engage with viewers inventively.
In case you’re wondering why it’s not about social media at all: Both Google and the BCCI/IPL managements are infamously guarded! While ‘management’ does make careful statements and is seemingly open, divergent views don’t get out.
The BCCI will ‘allow’ coaches, teams and finally the cricketers to interact via approved platforms. Will the interactions be real-time, open conversations that are at the heart of social media vs. one-way broadcasts? What do you think?
What impact do you foresee on sports broadcasting?
How will cricketers benefit?
How will this affect sponsorship and advertising – online and traditional?
Hi Carlos,
2009 resounded with one theme, the ‘need for change’. 2010 has to be the year to make ‘real change happen’.
Untemplater.com is an idea whose time is now.
We can’t change old constructs and problems with old solutions. We have to break the mould and create a new way that redefines how we live, work and build communities.
What works well?
Focus on ‘doing’ rather than just preaching: Ideals are real only when we can live by them everyday. If untemplater.com helps people ask questions and find answers, it will be a great achievement.
Diversity: This is your biggest strength. I hope you will attract future contributors from different parts of the world, bringing with them stories of how they reframed their path.
Segments: The segments work great! You may want to consider adding health [preventive vs. reactive approach]; given that health is a big issue worldwide.
What you may want to review:
First, my personal view is that the Untemplater logo is very 70’s – a bit templatish! And looks very grey – the visual feel is heavy, ‘grey-suit in the room’.
Second, a nomadic, anywhere lifestyle, sounds glamorous and could easily hog attention at Untemplater. This isn’t a criticism of the wonderful people who choose this lifestyle and work really hard to succeed at it. It’s more of a friendly alert to the content editor! J
Third: Untemplater tips, segmented. How to’s for single, 20-something are different from 30-somethings with kids
Suggestions on what I’d like to see:
Weekly chats: on twitter, rotate moderators and choose questions from different segments
Untemplater icons: Profile people who have broken the mould, from around the world. Tap into their personal, authentic stories. Stories are how we learn and change.
Last thought: Untemplaters are assumed to break the mould, step out of the system and think out of the box. What about people who stay in the system and think creatively inside the box?
I read earlier this week, that every new venture requires four things to succeed:
Change, Connections, Conversation and Community. You’ve got the first one down.
Show the world there are many new paths waiting to be discovered by people, who have the will to create them i.e. untemplaters.
Cheers,
Anita Lobo
Three Indian athletes will represent India at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games from February 12 – 28.
The Indian qualifiers are luge specialist Shiva Keshavan who won Silver at the recent Asian Championship in Japan; and Tashi Lundup and Jamyang Namgyal, who are employed by the Indian Army and stationed at Gulmarg which is the tiny-but-serving winter sports capital of India.
While this is Keshavan’s fourth Olympics, it’s the first where he has corporate sponsors [Swissair, Limca Book of records and Reebok] and a full-time coach. There is no such support for the two Army men.
Winter sports are not a priority for the Sports Ministry of India, and nor are they popular in the country. Inspite of the absence of support or visibility, these Indian sportsmen are driven by their love for the sport and the honour of representing their country.
I salute their spirit!
Reading the autobiography of a living sportsperson seems unreal, more so when you’ve grown-up watching them play. Has it been so many years already?
But this story was exceptional and reminds me of the essential humanity that brings us together. I warmly recommend reading the book, for a fascinating story, well told.
This post isn’t a book review. If I invest time in reading a book, I want to know what do I get out of it – an engrossing story, a journey into places unknown, a new question or an answer to an old one. Open is one of the few books that do all this and more.
The 5 unexpected stories that stayed with me after reading ‘Open’ are:
Hone and rebuild what you have - body, mind, and team: It’s easier to blame what you don’t have, rather than pushing everything you have to succeed.
Sometimes you loose, even after playing your best: The best rivalries across goad players into producing their best ever. The next time I crib about competition, I’m going to know its there to serve me, and goad me into doing my best.
Loosing teaches you about yourself, winning teaches you about other people: A loss holds up a mirror that shows what and who you care about and who really cares about you.
To win, you need to stay in the game: Persistence is vastly under-rated. So is the ability to adapt to change and stay in the game to reach the finish line, ahead of the field.
Respect the game, and above all respect yourself: It’s cool to be railing against the system. To change the game, you need to respect what makes it work and know how to make it work for you. And then doing something so spectacular, that you’re in a ‘no-rules/ no-precedent’ zone.
Often the only guiding star in this no-precedent zone is a personal sense of doing the right thing that allows you to keep respecting yourself.
India has two powerful resources that can make the country a sports powerhouse by 2020.
The first: a hunger to succeed. A majority of our recent sporting heroes are from semi-urban and rural areas. Many have overcome tough family situations and persisted with sport in the hope of finding glory and breaking a cycle of economic hardship for their families.
The second: a large pool of young talent waiting to shine on the world stage. A majority of our young populace doesn’t have a fall-back plan; they don’t have social security or affluent families backing them. They have to succeed, and sport is a great way up.
The combination of hunger to succeed and a large pool of young people, if harnessed with vision and an action plan that’s implemented in both letter and spirit, can make India a sports powerhouse.
What do we need to do to arrive at vision 2020?
1] Set a real, quantifiable goal: e.g. Indian targets 20 Olympic gold medals in 10 disciplines.
Choose the sport. Choose the coaches. Build a long term team that has trainers, mental training, sports medicine experts, and world-class training facilities i.e. soft and hard infrastructure.
Marc Lammers, the national coach of the Dutch women’s hockey team that won the Olympic gold in Beijing, worked with the team for eight years and was supported by a steady top-notch support team and Olympic-level infrastructure.
2] Build systemic accountability: An elite athlete has to contend with the Sports Authority of India, the NIS, the Indian Olympic Committee, and the various Federations. The overlap in decision-making allows bad/slow decisions to be hidden and often hinders upright officers from doing their job well.
Current structures need to be simplified in order to reduce overlap, enhance impact of each rupee spent, and assign responsibility. India’s national badminton coach, Gopichand, admitted that there is so much overlap among the various sports organizations that Indian athletes spend a significant time just managing the system.
3] Change IOC and federation norms: This is the tiger in the room that no one wants to recognize. There should be a limit on the tenure of federation heads and office bearers after which they are ineligible for holding office.
The government of India should have a mechanism for removing office-bearers of the IOC on grounds of incompetence/corruption/failing to represent the country, if the need should arise. The Minister of Sport MS Gill has today an enviable opportunity for reforming the system, bottom-up and top down.
I hope the Minister chooses to strike while the iron of political and public attention is still hot.
4] Ensure domestic competitions follow international norms & standards: From the grassroots, our coaches and sportsmen should know and follow international norms so that it becomes a natural state of play, rather than undoing what the athlete has learned after he or she is already used to different standards. This also extends to refereeing, compliance with anti-doping norms, and preventing over-age competitors on the domestic circuit.
Our recent success in tennis and golf proves that we can adopt international norms in order to leapfrog ahead.
5] Unleash hyper-competition among athletes: No one automatically gets a berth because he is senior and has represented the country before. Identify four to six domestic qualifying tournaments every year that athletes have to win in order to continually represent the country.
Make current form and fitness the only things that count. If long-distance running has been taken over by Kenyans and Ethiopians, it’s because the domestic circuit is ruthlessly competitive, and only the best runners who’ve won their share of competitions every year make it to the national team.
6] Make sport and nutrition a ‘mandatory’ to the school curriculum: Just as we lay the foundation for good education, we must inculcate healthy habits and love for sport in school. A change in school education policy is essential to:
a] Put sport on par with other subjects: teaching methodology, trained teachers, evaluation, and results.
b] Impart sports and fitness training that meets a standard benchmark.
c] Ensure schools are equipped with the physical infrastructure & coaches.
d] Identify young talent early enough to foster and train for vision 2020.
My view is that this reform is critical for bringing about change at the grassroots level that will lay the foundation for India to become a sports powerhouse.
7] Invest in coaching: Making sport a ‘mandatory’ subject will increase demand for trained coaches. Market forces of demand and supply would result in better talent choosing coaching as a career option.
Trained coaches are an essential, often hidden ingredient for a nation that aspires to sporting glory. It is sad that the quality of coaches at school and college level is still very poor.
Viren Rasquinha, India’s former hockey captain observes that young players are harmed by bad coaching. We can crunch time by bringing in experienced coaches from around the world to train our staff according to world-class standards and draw up a coaching curriculum.
8] Neighbourhood sports facilities mandatory to housing project approvals: From schools and training centers for serious athletes, sports facilities need to be available year-round to the largest possible number of people. The push for sport includes urban planners recognizing that sports facilities need to be a part of the ‘mandatory’ requirements.
An interesting suggestion from Rishi Narain, of Rishi Narain Golf Management, is that any housing complex that has more than 200 units should have a sports center and not just a community hall for marriages! The private sector can take on the upkeep and management of such sports centres.
This will allow market-pricing to kick in and generate revenue. The popularity of heath and fitness-centre retail chains proves consumer demand for such facilities is on an upswing.
9] Moving from sponsorship to partnership: Corporate India understands the value of sports marketing. The current skew towards team/event-based sponsorship exists, as that’s what delivers value to a brand in India.
Indian businesses are not shy about long-term commitments, as long as they see a clear action plan that’s implemented on time and delivers value at each stage. Coca Cola, Reebok, and Hero Honda have derived bottom-line benefits from sports marketing.
The big success stories of Indian sport in tennis, golf and, more recently, marathons prove that a partnership model can be delivered in India. Currently, there’s nothing on offer from India’s sports federations to attract a partnership for long-term grassroots marketing combined with the high-visibility event spikes.
10] Your suggestion: This one I invite you to suggest. What do you think should be added to this mix to make India a sports powerhouse by 2020?
Some of these ideas were discussed at the FICCI global sports summit, which is among the few sports business summits in India that brought together sportsmen as well as the corporates interested in the business of sport. The discussions over two days highlighted the systemic changes India needs to make.
Inevitably, the discussion swung towards the Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010, which has now signed on two corporate partnerships: Hero Honda, India’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, and NTPC, the public sector, power-generation giant.
My view is that regardless of the event-specific outcome of the Delhi Games, the true legacy we can wrest from this experience is to use it as a trigger point to make long overdue changes and aspire to become a sports powerhouse.
We have the hunger to win, and we have the talent.
What we need is the will to work hard and make this dream come true.
A trauma or aggravation – and we’re boiling mad.
The anger simmers for a few days, and then mellows. Soon indifference sets in.
We’re urged to move on.
Let’s stop for a minute and ask:
Could we use anger as a constructive force?
Anger makes us run faster; work harder; ignore convention.
We are forced to do things differently.
I’m not talking about anger that’s temporary - a noisy combustible thing and that goes up in smoke! Neither do I condone violence.
Instead, could we examine the point of provocation and watch how we react to it?
Can we harness anger into a turbine that generates constant energy – one that drives us to ‘do’ things and make a difference to our lives and our community?
Should we stay angry?
After attending a rash of sport sports-related seminars, I’ve heard and learnt a lot about making sponsorships sweat, running big-ticket events, sticky eyeballs, hot-shot activation and the Holy Grail - ROI. All the energy is spent discussing event execution and broadcast.
Conspicuously absent at all these intensely debated forums is what are we doing to directly support the sports persons themselves – the individuals who wrap their lives around training or building a sports legacy that encourages young people to pursue excellence in sport. This so-called 'soft legacy' is missing.
Sports business seminars on infrastructure mull around ‘acquiring land-building-selling’ – the so-called ‘hard legacy’ is defined in buildings & stadia that in many cases barely comply with competition requirements, athlete comfort be damned!
Facility upkeep or even availability to young sportspersons after the big event is over is not on any priority list.
The discussions among sports marketing folks are confined what they can do to get more advertising around broadcast time. Sports sponsors think ROI equals plastering their branding, first-class box for the bosses, advertising – while non-sponsors think-up new ambush marketing techniques.
Sports federations and organisers’ of the Olympic/ Commonwealth Games devote more energy to legally protecting their brand name, orchestrating events and official delegation visits!
Sports persons who have the most direct and personal stake in delivering the core sport element are incidental and usually ignored while more ‘important’ issues are discussed. There is very little discussion about investing in athlete training and promotion, well before the Games arrive.
Specific to India, the current and escalating demands on athletes include: training, marketing, getting into media; being available for sundry photo-ops with pot-bellied officials and above all, WINNING even if they don’t have the same training facilities that all competitors have!
The human story of sweat, pain, tears, and hours of practise that excludes evenings-out or cuts into family time, to improve the score by a minute or an inch is ignored by most. Athletes go through training on their own steam, sometimes with their coach and family for company.
While I recognise that world-class performers have to enforce a degree of isolation and put in countless hours to reach peak performance, this does not imply:
[A] No-say in decision-making that affects performance especially sponsorship for training [that is if you get a small percentage of what the federation corners]
[B] Not being respected by federation officials, who threaten your place in Team India for the flimsiest of reasons
[C] Officials excused when they ‘forget’ registering athletes for important competitions that influence world ranking and berth
[D] Not being paid dues on-time even though officials are jet-setting on educational tours
[E] Being made to chase sundry officials every time you travel international, for permissions/ tickets etc
[How difficult is it to ensure dues are paid on time, training-related issues are sorted quickly or travel/ logistics are driven through a speedy clearance for ‘Team India sports persons only’ channel.]
[F] Undue pressure to perform or perish [latter happens more frequently in India, with no support for athletes who need a ‘recovery’ program from bad-form or medical issues]
If our top sportsperson spend a large percentage of their energy just running around to ensure basics are not overlooked and they don’t anger some official on the tree, how will they develop an ‘edge’ that makes vital difference to a podium finish? Wait, we still haven’t even got around to sharing that wonderful human story of overcoming limitations, that’s waiting to be told.
In hoopla around organising bigger events, roads, stadia, greening the city, TV rights, and sponsorship, the real and human story of sport is lost.
Girl/ 5 y.o.: I want to be an astronaut
Boy/ 8 y.o.: Girls are not astronauts, only boys go to space.
Girl: I want to play football
Boy: Girls don’t play football, only boys do
Overhearing this a few months ago sent up a huge red flag with me, on how early stereotypes are set.
Probably much earlier than 5, as kids watch cartoons where mummy is always making stuff in the kitchen; girls are always dolled up in pink; and boys are always super-heroes or doing cool stuff.
Turning off the TV isn’t enough of a solution.
At playgrounds, girls get shepherded to ‘safe’ games like swinging and skipping and not kicking around a football.
Well I don’t know what the big solution is, or if there is any escaping gender stereotypes at all?
So what I did was showing evidence that busted stereotypes. Simple stuff really.
Using pictures from the daily paper:
Men who are chefs and women pilots. Women who play basketball; men who figure skate. Male models and women car rallyists!
Proof that women & men can take on any role they want. I have never been more appreciative of the power of photographs!
Mythology is a great source:
Stories are powerful tools. Indian mythology is replete with stories of Kali, Parvati, Durga, Lakshmi – women goddesses who are revered. Their stories exemplify that women are powerful too!
What mom does everyday, matters most!
‘What mom does’ exerts a very big influence on a child’s notions of stereotype – both male and female.
When a child watches their mother work [home/office] and be independent, they’re far more likely to understand male-female equality in their heart as much as their mind.
A big moment for the 8 year old boy was proudly telling his friends, ‘my mom drives a car’.
A big moment for the 5 year old girl was playing football with mom and all the neighbourhood kids. And flat-out races for girls and boys together!
We all know that stereotypes set artificial limits on both girls and boys.
Limits that need to be done away with quickly, gently, firmly and early before they settle in.
The two kids are my children – and this story is yours too.
I’d love to know how you bust stereotypes.
What do we reward?
Invasive treatments, rather than preventive lifestyles [insurance companies love this]
Earning degrees, rather than an all-round education with art, music and sports [colleges love this]
Copying someone’s business idea, rather than creating a new system [business consultants love this]
Becoming someone else’s idea of success, instead of being ourselves [life coaches love this]
Talking about poverty, rather than helping one person change their life [bloated bureaucracies, now you know why]
So what’s your reward?
Heart attacks, hypertension and diabetes
Degrees that don’t build careers or prepare you for the world
A million spin-offs, no originals
Borrowed success and a fake identity
People dying of hunger and preventable diseases, everyday
Choose your reward or someone else’s version shall be thrust upon you.
