New sports cities and schools: India is heading for the big time

The whole world knows India as a cricket-mad country. But that is about to change. India is waking up to a bold new dream. It wants to become a true sporting power in all disciplines. And it has a plan. Huge investments, top sports universities and whole new sports cities are the keys to success.

What’s behind this big change? India’s growing self-confidence and desire to show the world what it’s made of. It all comes down to one big goal: India wants to host the Summer Olympics in 2036. To make sure it’s not all talk, the government has already launched several major programmes. One is Khelo India, which looks for talent in schools. The best ones are then helped by the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), which gives them top-notch facilities and money to prepare.

In India, they understand that medals don’t grow on trees. And that it’s not enough just to build stadiums. You need to produce people who understand the sport. That’s why the main pillar of the whole strategy is to build specialised sports universities. The first and foremost is the National Sports University in Manipur. It is to make sports a full-fledged and respected profession. The project started some time ago. “We will open 1,000 Khelo India centres,” India’s sports minister told the Times of India in a Lok Sabha speech in December 2022.”

And it doesn’t end there. The other big plan is to build entire sports cities. But don’t think it’s just a few stadiums side by side. These are huge complexes where you will find everything together. There will be training academies, accommodation for athletes, research centres. The target? To prepare the best athletes. All in one place. Also to attract major international sporting events to India. India wants to make a definitive claim on the world sports map.

India’s journey to the top of the sport is going to be a long one. That much is clear. It has to fight bureaucracy and, most importantly, change the mindset of people for whom school results have always been more important than sports. But the strides he has been making in recent years show tremendous determination. The real success will not just show up in the number of medals. It will show in whether sport becomes a normal part of life and an inspiration to millions of young Indians.