Sportspersons struggling for funds in their respective disciplines have started to make the most of the new concept of crowd-funding. KARTHIK RAMAN catches up with a few players who have used it to their benefit
With funds so difficult to garner even to lead a dignified life, it is sad to see the plight of deserving players who in the face of severe resource crunch try to put their sport before their resource crises.
Athletes like Inderjeet Singh or Shiva Keshavan are the best example. Fortunately, though, these players have found some solace from crowdfunding, the process of generating money through small contributions made by a large number of people over the Internet.
In a country where cricket is worshipped like a religion, it is no surprise that most other sports go unnoticed and there is scant funding. Not all sports in the country enjoy the comfort of sponsors like cricket does.
Players from various sports end up facing severe money crunch for training and other requirements. If Athletics is one such strain, the winter sports scenario is even more saddening.
Shiva Keshavan, the country’s first professional luger, has been the face of winter sports in India. He has participated in five Olympics, with his first being in 1998. However, the silver medalist at the Asian luge Championship in 2015, could not participate in the World luge Championship, 2016, due to lack of funds. “After a year of preparing for the event, pulling out from one of the most important international races is a sorry situation as an athlete and as an Indian,” he said.
Putting aside the disappointment, Shiva has started a crowdfunding campaign on bitgiving.com to raise money for his four-month training programme in USA and Italy.
“A lot of people donated and contacted me as a result of the campaign. Though we are still a long way from our target, this helped create more awareness about my story and hopefully that will translate into funding as well,” Keshavan said.
With it’s amplified reach and popularity, the social media has provided a great platform to garner support for various causes. It helps in creating awareness and makes people come together to contribute to a cause. It provides the perfect link between people who would like to raise funds for a cause and for people who are ready to offer their help.
After hearing about interested parties willing to donate money for his cause, Shiva felt the time was right for him to start the campaign. “Crowdfunding is one good option available today for people who are looking for funding. I always have people writing to me and wishing to contribute in some way so we decided it was the right time to launch an online campaign to raise funds for my training. It is a great way for people to get involved and support their favourite athlete or cause,” he explained.
Even though Shiva feels the popularity of luge has increased lately in India, he believes it is the task of the sports authorities to amplify the sports reach. “The sport is already much better known than when I started representing India. But, there is still a lot of space in our country for various sports to grow. It is for the sports authorities to make the sport accessible to all by providing infrastructure. Our country still has a long way to go for sport development. There are no shortcuts and we need qualified and committed people at the helm,” he said.
He also feels that the only place where proper facilities for luge can be provided is on the mountains, but since most of the hilly areas in the country are rural and undeveloped, it is difficult to build the infrastructure there for the sport. “Hilly areas of India where winter sports are practised are mainly rural and underdeveloped. Given that winter sports are a multi-billion-dollar industry in the West, we need to follow sports for development campaigns so that both the sport and the rural areas benefit,” he said.
Despite all the support, Shiva still finds it difficult to achieve his target after his coach Duncan Kennedy parted ways with him. “It will be a big setback if I am left without a coach. If the funds are available, Duncan will be happy to continue his collaboration, after all he is one of the people who support my cause,” he said.
He said it is time for the Government to step in and help his career. “The Government must intervene. To me it is only logical that when an athlete is representing the country at a certain level, the Government bears the cost,” he added.
Despite all the setbacks, Shiva is confident of carrying Tricolour at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea. “I am confident of being able to qualify as long as I can travel for the races. All athletes compete to win but the success will depend on a number of factors such as training, coaching and equipment which is where funding comes in,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rio Olympics-bound shot-putter Inderjeet Singh says crowdfunding has helped him gain recognition from the public. Prior to the 2015 Asian Athletics Championships and the Asian Grand Prix, Inderjeet was able to generate funds to finance his mental training sessions through crowdfunding. “I won four consecutive international gold medals for the country, breaking meet records in two of them,” he said on the benefits of having those sessions.
“More than the funds that were generated from the crowdfunding campaign that helped my training needs, it initiated a change in the way people saw sports such as Athletics. People started following Athletics, many people walked up to me on the street, recognized me and congratulated me on my achievements,” he added.
For Inderjeet, crowdfunding played a big role in his success last year. “By Gods’ grace, 2015 has been another successful year for me. I won nine gold medals out of the 10 competitions I took part in, which included me becoming the first male athlete to qualify for the Rio Olympics. The crowd funding campaign helped me reach my target for the year and helped me develop as an athlete,” he added.
The 27-year-old has nothing but good words for well wishers who contributed for his purpose. Despite, the concept of crowdfunding being relatively new in the country, Inderjeet is confident it will soon become popular. “The crowdfunding concept is new to India but like everything new, it will find its feet,” he concluded.