A STUDY OF DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF MANAGERIAL FRAMEWORK FOR SPORTS MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

Abstract

Active participation in sports is essential for nation-building. It helps uplift the quality attributes, of determination, teamwork, discipline, productivity, and health in the mindsets of people in a nation. Given India’s large population, it is critical to increase participation in sports to improve the overall health and productivity of the country. Further, improved participation will also increase the country’s success rate in inter national sports. A large section of the sporting population not only contributes to physical well-being but also to the health index and higher level of economic activity in terms of trade, commerce and industry. A study conducted by a team of orthopedic doctors in November 2016 at King George’s Medical University showed that in India, 30% of the population in India has a flat foot. Flat foot in children may be painful and make them slower in the running than their counterparts. This may restrict them from participating in various categories of sports. It has been shown in the literature that age, weight, BMI, gender, physical activity, and knee position were the commonly used variables in determining the flat foot intensity and range. This study focuses on an essential physical attribute, namely a flat foot and knock knees. The essential component in sports management is parent’s involvement in building sports as a career for their children. It was found that various studies advocate that emotional, financial, and social support are the three critical parameters that will help in improving the athlete’s educational, emotional and psychological status. However, few studies also emphasized that parental support can negatively impact the psycho xxiii logical status of a player if the involvement is not optimized. Thus, redefining the role of parents and educating them through various training programs can improve their involvement in sports with their children. The significant aspect that requires investigation is the orientation of a player in sports management. It is seen that educational programs, proper nutritional guidance, psy chosocial support, and motivational programs can prove to be effective in enhancing the player’s orientation toward sports. The coaches in India are expected to take charge of the overall components of players’ development, including physical training, health and nutrition, counseling, and other factors. The coach’s education must be reviewed, and a well-defined programme should be developed in India so that an effective coach who can contribute to the player’s performance and communicate more effectively can be produced. The players in India need to be trained with well-designed educational and training programmes. In addition to field training, they are well aware of the theoretical and practical aspects, including sports education, professional orientation, nutritional awareness, and psy chological aspects. A systematic and well-defined framework and methodology for sports management is currently conspicuous by its absence. Hence, it is essential to review and propose a model framework that can be successfully applied in the Indian context and focuses on all the key players of sports management. Keeping in view the above and after a critical evaluation of available research about four key players in sports management are identified, namely 1) Physical Attributes such as Flat Foot and knock knees 2) Skillset of the Coach, 3) Parental Involvement 4) Player Orientation. In this study, an analysis of 1590 primary school children from two schools, in Delhi, aged between 6 to 10 has been carried out to detect the presence of two attributes, flat feet and knock knees, amongst these children. Further, this study develops and validates responses to a questionnaire collected from 82 Badminton coaches. This study also analyses the relationship between physical education, experi ence, agility, flexibility, endurance and strengthening in player preparation with sports xxiv management. In doing so the perspective of the coach about player preparation has also been assessed. To assess the parent’s involvement, 314 parents whose children had participated in badminton sports atleast at the zonal level were considered. This work was done to find the relationship between emotional, financial and social support provided to players and sports management with a mediating role of player preparation. Sug gestions from parents were sought regarding the requirement of separate specialist trainers for the players and support received from the government for playing sports. Further, feedback from parents has been considered in improving training facilities and national financial schemes. To understand the perspective of the player on the influence of motivational levels, education, daily routine, level of practice on sports management and the role of the mediating effect of player preparation, the data has been collected through 754 Bad minton players playing atleast at the zonal level across various states of India. The perspective of the players in terms of the responsibilities of coaches and the require ment of specialist trainers has been obtained. The problems faced by the players after the training sessions are summarised. To sum up, based on the perceptions of coaches, parents and players a sports man agement framework is proposed. The model can be utilized by sports coaches, sports academies and sports federations to strengthen and improve player preparation pro gramme.