With the successful conduct of the Men’s Hockey World Cup, Odisha is well on its way to becoming India’s ‘Sports Capital’ and a ‘Global Sports Destination’, something that has been CM Naveen Patnaik’s key aim.
BHUBANESWAR: From being almost a non-entity in sports, Odisha has made a meteoric rise as a hub of sporting activities, nationally and globally. In Odisha, every game is more than a sport—it’s a way of life. The state government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, has a clear intent on making Odisha a “Global Sports Destination”.
By hosting high-decibel international competitions like the Hockey World Cup, Odisha has emerged as a hub for sports in the country. The government aims to achieve the distinction of being the country’s potential sports capital.
However, the transformation in the sports sector over the last 20 years could become possible due to concerted efforts to create an enabling environment for industrial growth and social development. Over the last 20 years, the state has evolved as an investors’ destination. According to official data, Odisha alone contributes 7.8% of the total 10% investment growth in the country.
The state has received 124 proposals worth Rs 1.19 lakh crore in the investors’ meet held recently in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar. Sectors like mining, petrochemical, manufacturing and tourism are the top attractions that received the maximum investment. Officials said 76 of these proposals are in various stages of completion.
The Odisha government has also identified sports as one of its key focus areas and is ready to more than double the investments in the sector in the next year. The state government has identified six disciplines—athletics, hockey, weightlifting, badminton, football and archery—and is looking at investing over Rs 350 crore in the next financial year.
“We have identified six sports as priority disciplines, where we see Odisha has great potential and where our players are doing very well. We will set up national level academies for each of the six disciplines,” Odisha’s sports secretary Vishal Dev said.
While the government has already started an academy for badminton last year in association with the Sports Authority of India (SAI), it is now in the process of setting up a high-performance athletics academy. “We have already signed an MoU with International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the Athletics Federation of India,” Dev said.
The government has increased the budget substantially as sports has been given high priority by the government. The programme expenditure was Rs 60 crore in 2016-17, which doubled to Rs 120 crore this year. Next year, it is expected to be over Rs 350 crore.
Further, the state government has launched a new scheme to provide financial support to athletes for advanced oversees training and participation. Simultaneously, it is working on getting renowned coaches from the world over to come and conduct refresher courses and impart knowledge about respective disciplines to state coaches and kids.
One of the hubs for sporting culture in the country, Odisha has sports hostels in 15 of its total 30 districts. The government conducts annual talent search to pick up talented kids at a young age.
“We admit them in these sports hostels and enroll them in government schools. So we provide free education, free sports coaching and free lodging and boarding. We have over 100 coaches across disciplines,” Dev said.
Incidentally, Odisha has become the first state to support national hockey teams as principal sponsor. Last month, the state government had announced its five-year commitment to support and sponsor the team. Dev said that the commitment is worth Rs 120 crore over the next five years. The last five years, he said, have seen an unprecedented focus on sports in the state with a clear intent on making it a “Global Sports Destination”. “It is the talent of players that pushed us to take more initiative. Without having proper coaching, if so many athletes can make it to international level competitions, then imagine the level they can tune themselves to once they are properly coached. After all, the better they perform the more laurels they attain for themselves, the state and the country,” Dev said. On preparations for the Hockey World Cup on a war footing, he said it was sheer dedication and hard work on the part of the Odisha government that made the event possible. Within a week of taking up the challenge, synthetic tracks were laid in the main stadium as well as the warm-up area, along with three lakh square feet of grass-turfing in and around the stadium. As many as 5,000 new seats were put up for the spectators. New mast floodlights were also installed at various points. Four huge towers were airlifted from Italy and installed on a war footing. Equipment to help renovate the stadium was imported from various foreign manufacturers. “Like our honourable CM said, the 90-day challenge, despite being tiresome, was an amazing experience for us. The stadium wouldn’t have been possible without the workers, who actually turned our dreams into reality.”
Officials said that the World Cup gave Odisha an opportunity to showcase the state’s sporting environment, investment opportunities and the manufacturing prowess to the world. This platform is also a way of showing to both domestic and foreign investors the huge lucrative opportunities that various businesses and industries will have access to once they invest in the state. By hosting some leading international sporting mega events, Bhubaneshwar has already created a business-friendly environment.
Hockey has been popular for more than 100 years in the tribal areas in Odisha. The history of hockey in Odisha goes back to 1860 when the Christian missionaries introduced it into the tribal regions as a recreational activity during their numerous visits. With tribal inhabitants being gifted athletes, the sport picked up like wildfire and has since then been creating a rage in the state. Hockey in Odisha is more than a sport, it’s a way of life, and children here learn to walk with hockey sticks before anything else.
For the first time, it was in 1928 that the Indian hockey team participated in the Olympic Games held in Amsterdam, Holland, and succeeded in grabbing the gold medal. Captain of that team was Jaipal Singh Munda, a tribal, from Ranchi. After 1928, Michael Kindo was the second Odia player who played in the Munich Olympic, 1972. After Kindo, Sylvanus Dung Dung (1980-Moscow), Dilip Tirkey (2000 Sydney Olympics), Lazarus Barla (2000 Sydney Olympics) represented the country in the Olympic Games. On seeing so many youngsters prove their mettle in the sport, the Government of Odisha decided to step in.