Spirit of the Game

THERE WERE NO cameras. No media. It was all rather quiet as Abhinav Bindra and an International Olympic Commit­tee (IOC) delegation led by Angelita Teo, Director of the Olympic Foundation of Culture and Heritage, made it to one of the 90 pilot schools under the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) in Bhubaneshwar on April 3, 2023. With the mercury touching 37 degrees, it wasn’t pleasant. Day-long outdoor activities with school kids in sapping heat did not seem an enticing prospect. And yet, all of us were there with Abhinav, to see what was happening with this partnership between the Government of Odisha and the Abhinav Bindra Foundation.

Could sport truly change lives? Could the Government of Odisha, Abhinav and the IOC make a difference to the lives of 150,000 young girls and boys using sport and the values associ­ated with it? Could they scale things up even further, as was now the case, and make this an all-India engagement going forward? As we reached the school, the delegation was welcomed in the traditional Indian way—with flowers and conch shells. That was routine. But it was then that things started to get interesting. The kids, from economically underprivileged backgrounds all across the state, were smartly dressed in well-ironed school uni­forms, and had lined up to welcome the delegation. There was a certain warmth about the whole thing. Each child was smiling and seemed to be soaking up everything going on around them. And as we took our seats in front of the temporary stage, two students—a boy and a girl—walked up to the dais and welcomed us in perfect English. They were addressing a crowd of over 200, which included senior IOC delegates from Switzerland. They mentioned what they had planned, and how sport had made them more confident individuals. The high point of this opening ceremony was when two girls came down from the stage and held Angelita and Xenia Kourgouzova—Senior Manager, Educa­tion, IOC—by the hand, asking them to join the students on the dais for a traditional Odia dance. That might have seemed silly to some. But if you thought a little deeper, the symbolism would not have been lost on you. These were students who had little or no exposure to the world a year or so earlier. English was an alien language for them. No one in their families had ever spoken in English, let alone interacted with foreigners in the language. And here, out of the blue, two of the girls had the confidence to come down and invite two senior IOC delegates on to the stage.

A revolution was unfolding in front of our eyes, and Odisha, India’s best-kept secret, felt like a new ray of hope. The welcome performance was followed by a uniquely planned game of foot­ball. Two teams of six-a-side were pitted against each other, with three players instructed not to go beyond the halfway line. The teams, interestingly, had three boys and three girls on each side. “Some of the boys could be better players at the moment, but that’s not relevant here,” said a senior teacher at the school. “We have stopped them from going beyond the halfway line, be­cause that means they have to pass the ball to their teammates to be able to score. That’s what will help unite them as a team. Individual efforts don’t matter. And by passing to their female counterparts, they will learn to respect each other more. Over a period of time, some girls have become as good, if not better, than the boys, and are now leaders of their teams.”

The significance of that wasn’t lost on Abhinav. “This is one of the biggest successes of the programme,” he said. “In some cases, boys have chosen girls as leaders, and I can tell you that has given me the most joy.”

“I was apprehensive about playing football,” one of the girls told us. “I was told it was a game for boys only. And then one day, I fell and injured myself. My parents were scared what might happen to me. But my teachers and trainers under OVEP encouraged me to keep going. Today, I love football. I just love it. I am playing for a club, and if I can do well, I want to play the sport professionally.” Her eyes sparkled as she spoke to us, and she ended the conversation by asking: “Do you want me to juggle the ball?” This was a 14-year-old tribal girl from interior Odisha saying that she was happy to juggle a football 100 times, without it touching the ground, in front of com­plete strangers. While she wasn’t able to control it after 56 touches and was left a little frustrated as a result, she left us all in awe. As she spoke, I could see Abhinav’s eyes light up. He was listening intently, soaking in every word. From shooting for the Olympic gold to watching mixed-gender football being played by tribal kids in Bhubaneshwar was quite a journey. It compelled me to ask him why. How did it all start, and how did he end up being here?

“The credit goes to the Government of Odisha,” he said. “Had it not been for the support we have received from the chief minister and everyone else in Odisha, we could not have gone ahead. For me, sport is about values. Life lessons. Not about medals won. Yes, the Olympic gold medal has its im­portance, and it has helped me hugely, but it is not something I wear around my neck every day. It doesn’t define who I am. What sport has helped me to do is bring about change. It has helped me to change as well. That’s what I have tried to bring about here in Odisha. It has been possible because there is a cer­tain spontaneity here. You see it in the bureaucracy. They are ready to help you, embrace change, and try out new things. If sport can help change lives and make better societies, I would say my 22 years in sport have been of some significance.”

Could a programme like OVEP change long-established ste­reotypes? Could it, for example, help give physical education (PE) teachers in India the same respect and credibility that a maths or science teacher got? “Yes, that’s what it has done for me,” said Rachita, a PE teacher in one of the participating schools. “Since I became a part of OVEP, I have been able to work far more closely with the other teachers. They are also using sport in their classes to help change the mindset of the students. There is far more synergy. Much more than theory, what is helping us drive change is the more practice-driven approach. We do a lot of outdoor activities with students and that helps them bond better, respect each other more, and be more open with each other.”

“It has made education more exciting,” said a senior teacher who now uses references from OVEP to make her classes more exciting. “It is not just about reading and being confined to class­rooms. It is about mingling with each other outdoors, playing sport, and getting educated while doing so. All of a sudden, school has become exciting. It is not a compulsion. Rather, the students are excited about coming to school and trying out things.”

Clearly, teachers too were now part of the revolution. For them as well, it was a story of empowerment. “Earlier, we as physical education teachers were always the second rung,” said a PE teacher actively involved in the programme. “We did not have the same respect in school. Now, things are different. We are, thanks to the OVEP programme, as much respected and well regarded. Our work is getting recognised, and we can see how much the kids are loving it.” By then, the football was over, and the kids made their way to the sand art, which had been prepared for the IOC delegation. It is an Odisha tradition, and has a long history to it. Again, it was done using the same principles of friendship, respect and excellence.

“What is striking here is how the teachers and students are working in perfect synergy in the state using sporting values,” said Angelita. “That’s what Olympism and the Olympic move­ment is all about. If we can touch lives like this with sport all over Odisha, we will request Abhinav to take the programme to every cor­ner of India. Odisha is the perfect case study for the IOC.”

Frederique Jamolli, Head International Cultural Affairs, IOC, and Kourgouzova, were both in agreement. “The Olympic Games is unique because it is a movement, and not just a sports competition that is held every four years,” they argued. “In fact, what is done in between the four years is what defines Olympism and the Olympic move­ment.” In sport, you always fail in public. Even the great Sachin Tendulkar did so in the 2007 World Cup, when he was out for a duck in the all-important group fixture against Sri Lanka. As Abhinav says, “Sport teaches you to fail.” Tendulkar came back, with his support system backing him up, and won the World Cup in 2011. That’s what makes sport unique. It’s perhaps the only human endeavour that allows you to fail in public, and then come back and win in front of the same audience. And that’s what Abhinav and his team were teaching the 150,000 young girls and boys in Odisha. Equipping the children to deal with failure. To lose, and come back stronger. To not lose hope and be invested in the process.

OVEP was all about emphasising how friendship, respect and excellence could help bring about change. And that’s where Odisha led the way. The journey with OVEP has just started in Odisha. We have only seen a year of it. But from what we have witnessed so far, it is a very powerful tool for change. And for a true devotee of sport like Abhinav, it is an opportunity. To try and create a bet­ter India. With fantastic support from the Odisha government and the chief minister in particular, this is a partnership that will only become stronger in the years ahead. Just as Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 prepared Abhinav for Beijing 2008, Odisha is readying him for a much bigger can­vas. Only this time, it is not him and his gun. It is Abhinav and thousands of underprivileged Indian kids who would otherwise struggle for a respectable living. Odisha is now his range, with thousands of parents watching with bated breath to see how their kids can become more well-rounded individuals. No Olympic gold could match the satisfaction if he can pull it off.

( This is an edited excerpt from Odisha and Sports: A Story of Hope and Glory by Boria Majumdar and R Vineel Krishna)

About The Author

Boria Majumdar

Boria Majumdar is a sport journalist and the author of, among other titles, Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians. He is a contributor to Open

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R Vineel Krishna

R Vineel Krishna is an IAS officer in the Odisha cadre currently serving as Secretary, Sports and Youth Services Department