Post
by TenX » Tue Aug 12, 2008 3:02 pm
There is a shortfall for shooting in India, and for all the above, owing to several reasons like
1. Shooting has not been a major spectator sport, thus not getting required attention, sponsorship, people-involvement, etc
2. Shooting requires space and equipment as against other common sports like cricket, which can be played on any road or gully.
3. A big majority of people do not know the basics of shooting, and is therefore pretty ignorant about this; which leads to a sort of negativism for the unknown - (Interestingly, a common sport can be one whose rules and details are caught thru air, without having to read about it. We all know cricket rules, but have we ever read them?)
4. Shooting can end up a costly sport, as against other common sports which dont need any recurring costs.
5. Team activities which involve more team 'fun' is usually preferred more, and shooting is mostly not this type.
6. In itself, Shooting is more like an examination wherein you dont even compete directly, ball against ball, with your contender. You just write your exam to score full marks, and hope to get a rank if your score is the highest.
7. Most shooting related equipment, guns and ammo is not manufactured in India (I am talking about competition material), thus making the sport so much less accessible.
8. Less number of top end professionals reduce the National level competitive edge.
9. Lack of Internationalization makes several shooters aim at only representing an International event and their wishes may remain at seeing a foreign country and white babes only.
10. No talent recognition in budding stages, including schools/colleges not part of the promotion.
But Shooting is, interestingly, one of the few sports in which India can get wonderful appraisal because
1. Shooters need a quality mind frame and focus/concentration, which Indians are good at, as against other sports wherein opponents are genetically stronger.
2. Point (1) can have a lot of discussion, but owing to the fact of the huge population, we will find odds here and there, wherein there is a supremely strong Punjabi, or an excellent tamil runner, but overall, the generic percentage of out race can be better at Shooting, Chess, Swimming, etc than Hockey, Soccer, etc. We should focus our energies and talent in this pool of more probable avenues. (like how china concentrate their efforts in speed and agility based events, like Gymnastics, etc)
3. If a small percentage of Indians show an affinity in shooting sports, and we have the right infrastructure to support, then, discounting the number who dont mature into international class, the percentage who drop out, and others, we will still have a huge talent pool, which is better than betting all we have on one or two horses. A good number will attain more number of top shooters, making things much more competitive inbetween them.
Looking at this, can we...
1. Get the state government to round off the petrol prices (say from 56.91 to 57.00) for a month or two, and collect the excess for improving shooting infrastructure and getting guns/ammo. Of course, this is defnitely white, and I dont think anone would mind because the excess 9 paise is anyway being eaten by the petrol bunk guys.
2. Private service providers can round off bills (like cell phone, power, etc) to the nearest rupee. The few paise collected from lakhs of house holds and subscribers may easily ful fill the requirements for range, maintenance, etc.
3. We could even start a promotion group (I already have 6 friends who want to donate 5000 bucks every year for me to improve my shooting), to collect good money for improvement of Shooting Sports. A lot of IT-cadre professionals dontmind donating upto 5000 rupees every year, because they will get an IT exemption for donation. Of course, the collection has to be from a white body with required govt. permissions.
4. We have education cess and so many taxes. Maybe one month's collection of these taxes could fund sports (Shooting included).
5. Indiiduals/Groups can talk to colleges/schools to encourage shooting (Air Rifle to begin with), which does not require a huge investment or space. Shooting enthusiasts can form a club of 'Coaches' and allocate available time and energy in getting youngsters to know more about shooting. We could goto nearby schools for 2 hours a week and demonstrate/teach and coach enthusisats. This is a required step in breaking walls and getting talent closer to the sport.
6. OF COURSE - make international class guns ammo and kits more easily available - zero in on red-tapism, neta-heirarchy and open a more transparent proceedure.
7. Open up the media to talk and teach more about shooting. I have started to build a lobby of media people - Radio, TV, Newspaper, etc, to publicise shooting sports. If we could get one major newspaper to print a weekly/monthly article by one/all of us, letting the public know what the sport is, it would help a lot. Imagine a TV weekly serial on shooting, with the IFG banner, sponsored by new comers (manufacturers) - Abhijeet will introduce shooting/legalities/rules, Nagarifle will talk about pistols, Rustum will occasionally make a stampede... Its possible guys, and we will also be the forerunners of writing India's tomorrow!
Never Shave without a Blade
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