{"id":242031,"date":"2025-02-19T05:56:23","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T05:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/19\/dont-let-your-child-pursue-sports-unless-you-are-rich-pullela-gopichand-more-sports-news-the-times-of-india\/"},"modified":"2025-02-19T05:56:23","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T05:56:23","slug":"dont-let-your-child-pursue-sports-unless-you-are-rich-pullela-gopichand-more-sports-news-the-times-of-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/19\/dont-let-your-child-pursue-sports-unless-you-are-rich-pullela-gopichand-more-sports-news-the-times-of-india\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Don\u2019t let your child pursue sports unless you are rich!’: Pullela Gopichand | More sports News – The Times of India"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hyderabad: Former badminton player Pullela Gopichand and Gongadi Trisha, a player of the U19 T20 Women’s World Cup winning team looks on at a felicitation programme, in Hyderabad. (PTI Photo)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Hyderabad: <\/span>One would expect national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand<\/a> to be overjoyed with the growing number of youngsters taking up sports as a profession, as a career, as a way of life. But the former All England champion says parents must think twice before letting their children dream about becoming professional sportspersons.
In a chat with TOI, the man who played a key role in making India a badminton superpower, says, \u201cI advise parents not to put their children in sports. We are not in a position to offer sports as a career. Unless the children are from rich backgrounds or have a family business, it is not advisable for children to take up sport.\u201d
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His contention is simple. Very few make it big. Those who don\u2019t break into the elite rung of players, lack the skills to survive without sports after they retire at around 30.
The Dronacharya awardee\u2019s concern comes from initiatives like Khelo India, Top Scheme, Go Sports, OGQ and corporates making sports extremely attractive to youngsters. But there is no safety net to fall back on in case they fail to make it big.
\u201cThe reality of sport is that less than 1% of people who take up sport end up having it as a profession or career,\u201d he says. \u201cIn sports like cricket, this number could be marginally better, but in essence sport would mean that a very small percentage of them make it. Where do we end up? What are the returns of the people who have made it?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sitting in his academy office in Hyderabad, a large glass window separating him from the playing
courts where future champions are practising, he says, \u201cOlympic medallists who work in the Railways, RBI, Income Tax, police or a PSU have a lower rank than a civil servant who gets to reap benefits of his learning till the age of 60. The Olympic medallist who has burned himself out, will have to call the civil servant \u2018sir\u2019 or \u2018madam\u2019. They are at the mercy of the officer, hoping they will have people who will respect sportspersons who won medals for the country. And you may also find a boss with a negative mindset towards sportspersons.\u201d
He wondered if those who represented the country should be at the mercy of society where
they may or may not get respect. \u201cThink of what has happened to hundreds of people who have represented the country in the last 20 years in various sports, won medals. Where are they today? What is their future? What is their earning capacity?\u201d
He gives the example of sprinter Jyothi Yarraji<\/a> \u2013 a 100m hurdles silver medallist from the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games \u2013 who has been making numerous appeals for a proper job. Gopichand is also disappointed with how hockey stars like Dhanraj Pillay and Mukesh Kumar and shooter Vijay Kumar have been treated after they achieved so much for the country. \u201cGoing by what they have done for the country, is this the right kind of reward they deserve?\u201d he asks. \u201cIf this is the case,
how can we encourage our children to take up sport?\u201d
Former hockey captain Mukesh Kumar told TOI that even national-level hockey players are not getting jobs today, a statement supported by Mukesh. \u201cIn our days, we used to get some job, but
now many top PSUs and banks have stopped recruiting hockey players,\u201d he says. \u201cThe situation is depressing.\u201d
\u2018CREATE A SAFETY NET\u2019<\/span>
Gopichand believes that if we really want to produce more professional sportspersons, then society must create a safety net around them. \u201cTo survive, these sportspersons also need other skills. Like spoken English presentation skills, and more importantly, a motivation to do something different once they retire. Often, just the motivation is missing,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n