🥇 Why Are Indian Athletes Lagging Behind?
India is struggling to win medals in sports. Here’s our take on why that could be happening and how it could be solved.
India is a country where you will find athletes in every lane and every street.
But when it comes to competitions, we lag far behind. Is there a way we can change this situation?
🔥 The Burning Question
Whenever international sporting events like the Olympics come around, we are filled with patriotism.
Winners like Neeraj Chopra and Mirabai Chanu are hailed and celebrated and rightly so.
But we, a country of 1.4 billion people only manage to win 7 medals (of which only one was gold) in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. In comparison, our neighbour China won 88 medals and even the tiny country of Japan won 58 medals.
So, what are we doing wrong?
For starters, our sports infrastructure is very limited.
In India, we only have 2 Sports Academic institutions, 11 SAI Regional Centres (SRC), 14 Centres of Excellence, 56 Sports Training Centres (STC) and 20 Special Area Games (SAG).
In comparison, China has 3,000 government-run sports schools, 20 major programmes and 200 minor sports programmes.
We also have a few good private academies, but all of these are usually concentrated in metropolitan cities, and many amateur players cannot access them or afford them.
So, they often miss out on the opportunity to get good training which can launch their sporting careers.
Okay, so what’s the solution to this?
Well, the government of India is working to remedy this situation by launching schemes like Khelo India, which are taking sports awareness to the grassroots level, but more needs to be done.
And this burden can be taken on by startups.
🤔 Can Private Players Change the Game?
Yes, startups don’t need to be just limited to eSports or fantasy gaming.
They can also enter the actual playing field and help level it for all players.
How?
To understand this, let’s take a look at Dashpod, a sports analytics company, which is trying to change how sports coaching is conducted by adding the element of technology to the tried and tested "Coach First" approach.Â
Huh?
You see, so far amateur players have relied only on very traditional metrics to analyse their performance, like stopwatch or their coaches’ insights.
But often this is not enough.
For instance, a swimmer or a runner can measure the time in which they complete a lap, but they cannot measure their agility, flexibility or reaction time. These are metrics that can help them further improve their performance and guarantee a victory in a close match.
Here’s where tech comes in.
Dashpod has created a tech-based Active Reflex Training system. By using its app coaches, trainers and school teachers can visualise, compare, benchmark and highlight the accurate improvements needed in their students and athletes.
It can also help improve muscle memory and hand-eye coordination in these athletes.
How exactly does it manage to do all this?
Through Dashpod’s unique pods.
Athletes can set up these pods and connect them to the Dashpod app.
The app will then suggest exercises according to the sport you choose, with the pods recording all your data.
It is this data that can help athletes and their coaches better understand where they’re lacking and what needs to be improved.
Also, you don’t need to buy different devices for different sports. A football player and a basketball player can use the same kit.
This can help a lot of amateur athletes who cannot access or afford training facilities train better and improve their performance.
Plus, Dashpod is also thinking of tying up with sports academies and designing targeted courses for users based on their metrics.
This could make professional training accessible to a large number of people.
Okay, But how big is the market?
The global sports tech market was worth $17.9 billion in 2021 and is growing at a CAGR of 17.5% to be worth $40.2 billion by 2026.
And while Dashpod does have some competitors in this space like Tweek Labs, its offering is still unique because it has applications beyond the field of sports as well.
It can be used for gym training, police training and even physiotherapy.
Yes, physiotherapy patients can use the pods to measure how fast they’re improving and how long they need to work on their injury.
So, Dashpod’s consumer base can potentially include gyms, trainers and physiotherapists.
Want to know more about the company’s financials and its future plans?
Join us for an Insiders Insights’ Session with Dashpod’s co-founder Santosh Kumar on May 22 at 7 pm.
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