A sporting crowd

Ajay Malik, the tennis under-14 champion, training at the gym and court built in a field in Haryana by his father Ajmer Malik, an army man and a former national-level wrestler

We have been participating in the Olympics for nearly a century now and this year, we sent our largest contingent ever in the hopes of bringing back an impressive collection of metal. We managed a silver and a bronze.

But the collective shock from that languid performance was soon absorbed by a bunch of spirited paralympians who brought home with them two golds, a silver and a bronze. The four medals — from those who had never been in the spotlight before — offered much celebration and consolation. We had been desperate for good news.

So today, the debate on why a nation of a billion managed only two medals in the world’s largest sporting arena is filled with the usual lambasting of process, a bemoaning of the system and allegations of ill-spent money by government chieftains. The problem, however, is much more basic — there’s not enough money for many to start early. India’s talent sourcing apparatus has many wide cracks and several hundred names, each year, fall through. Imagine that boy or girl with magic football feet who is unable to play because his or her village is 50 kilometres of dirt road away from the nearest levelled field. Where there is a crowd, there is a will Every idea and effort has to be met with a certain monetary sufficiency. And the right funding, at the right time can truly work wonders for grassroot sports in India. Because in almost every village, in some of the most far-flung regions of our country, there are stories of excellence running high on limited resources. Thirteen-year-old Ajay Malik who, this month, won the under-14 singles title at the National Tennis Championships is from Gohana in Haryana and learnt to play tennis on a court made by his father using electricity poles.

“A colonel from Hyderabad gave me a racquet some years ago and when I took it home, perhaps it was because of that racquet, my son said he wished to play tennis. I was stunned because we didn’t know anything about tennis,” says Ajmer Malik, an army man and a former national-level wrestler.

“I have heard of crowdfunding and I’m sure it’ll go on to help athletes like my son,” says Malik. Ajay started when he was 10 and was trained by a cousin who watched YouTube films to copy tactics used by the greats — Nadal, Djokovic etc. Malik Sr says he used exercise routines in wrestling to physically prepare his son. “We used discarded electricity poles to support the nets and cleared out a court ourselves. After that, we had to focus on a diet,” adds the father. Ajay, during the national-level matches, survived only on water during the breaks. Tennis players are known to use health drinks to last the gruelling hours, but for the boy from Gohana, there was no such relief. “I’m sure there are many others in need of shoes, shirts, shorts and other equipment. Several hundred of our country’s sportspersons have come from such far-off villages. And when they’re starting off, there are close to no facilities that’ll help them train better,” says Malik Sr.

Crowdfunding can help concerned citizens pierce through the comatose bureaucracy. It can help build swimming pools, tennis courts, cricket pitches and in some cases, can even breathe life into a team. Which is why one of the best examples of a crowdfunding initiative done right in Indian sport was the 2015 success of India’s ice hockey team.

“It started off as mere tweets and supporting hashtags. But the hashtag #SupportIceHockey gained momentum, and encouragement started pouring in,” remembers Harjinder Singh, the general secretary of the Ice Hockey Association of India. “Over 300 people contributed, filled financial gaps and helped the team compete in the Asian Championship in Kuwait.

“I had no expectations and thought we would land zero. The basic necessities were equipment and transportation for the team. The target amount we decided was the minimum requirement for the team but luckily, we ended up raising more than that,” says Singh. And this is a game in which the captain’s equipment reportedly costs upwards of Rs 70,000.

It’s also not an easy sport to even practice. “The only time India can play or practice on outdoor rinks is between December to mid-February in the naturally-formed ice rinks in the Leh-Ladakh region and Shimla — when temperatures dip below zero. The rink in Iskate, Gurgaon, is just 1/3rd of the international size. If we need to train round the year, we would have to send the team to Kyrgyzstan. That means arranging for travel funds, stay etc... Playing for only two months in India handicaps the team which is expected to win matches against teams playing round the year.

There are no celebrity faces either. The players are mostly from the Indian Army (Ladakh Scouts Regiment Centre), the ITBP and civilians — students who have grown up playing the game in winter. “After the natioanl trials, the team moves to Delhi before the members leave for the world tournaments towards March and April. Following that, it’s the end of the ice hockey season for us, which shouldn’t be the case,” adds Singh.

The team now has other problems to worry about. A 2016 round of crowdfunding has failed and officials say they are now in debt. “It is the team’s subsequent performance which brings fans back. This year, we borrowed lots of money from family, friends at the beginning of the season and unfortunately, this year we are in debt. It was perhaps the team’s performance, or the reasons are unknown, but the 2016 crowdfunding attempt has been a failure.” It was still the first step though.

Crowdfunding props you up for the first few years. It could mean the first pair of shoes, the first bat, the first jersey. If the characters in Lagaan had crowd-funded, it would have meant gloves. DC spoke to the good folks at BitGiving — the crowdfunding platform which was supporting the ice hockey team to better understand the system. “For a crowdfunding campaign, the impact is two-fold,” says Ishita Anand, the CEO. “One, how many people were moved by the story and wanted to participate, leading to impact in the campaigner’s life. We’ve seen an advertising professional’s innovation — solar-powered light bags for children in rural schools, which she had put together as a hobby — become a full-fledged social enterprise because of the response she got.

“The other is: how many people did the project impact in turn. Crowdfunding is such a transparent process that campaigners see the value in keeping their community engaged for the future. While we do not measure it, we have made the platform in such a way that those who support campaigns here are always in sync with what is happening on the ground. From a national sports team getting a new lease of life to thousands of people coming together to help build temporary shelters during disasters such as in Nepal and Chennai, it has been a brilliant journey and the learnings have been great,” Anand adds.

The pitfalls Crowdfunding does have its disadvantages. Harjinder Singh has an example. “Certain groups in Leh had started a crowdfunding process to collect money for the Indian Women’s Ice Hockey team, but did not pass on the money to the Association. It could have hit crowdfunding efforts of other sports in India, in general.”

Deepa Malik, the paralympian who brought home a silver in shot put, has other pertinent points. “Crowdfunding is an excellent idea. The equipment can get really expensive. For example, my wheelchair cost about '2 lakh and this is not even a high-end motorised version. The costs are demoralisingly high and I have seen so many give up. Lack of funding can break athletes. For para-athletes to start, they first need to be certified. And this certification process is only done abroad. That means, an athlete who wishes to play for India must first arrange for a travel ticket, get certified, come back and then start training. Funding — from anywhere — is most welcome. But we have to have a system that can manage the money. Let me give you an example. We are now training a woman from Delhi who was a victim of domestic violence. But she is an excellent athlete.We somehow managed to arrange for funds, helped her train and she performed exceedingly well at the national level. Here comes the problem. When she was given jerseys, she kept one and sold the others. We can’t blame her because she has two children to worry about. Family concerns is also the reason why an excellent swimmer from West Bengal — an autorickshaw driver — dropped out of training. People must understand that funds must be able to sustain the athletes’ families too.”

And while for hundreds, the money runs short, for a rare few cash and training are in plenty. “We had this case of a woman athlete who picked Finland to train. But she ended up going there with her fiancé and during a tournament later ended up posting miserable numbers. This is the reason why every penny must be accounted for,” adds Malik.

Why not Crowdfunding has a long way to go. General guidelines were recently put in place and Indians are still waking up to the idea of sending cash to a stranger. But we must remind ourselves that a difference can be made and the country can benefit. Not all ideas are born inside tall buildings — often, excellence is found in our fields and the narrowest of streets.