INDIAN IDOLS: (From top) Sania Mirza, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Bhaichung Bhutia

In less than a decade, hundreds and thousands of young boys and girls will pursue sports as a career,” predicts footballer, P.K. Banerjee, “because after years of being neglected as a career option, people are finally realising its significance.” Banerjee should know. The 69-year-old veteran who has been actively involved in sports practically all his life admits to being in on what he calls “the country’s sports scenario.” He says, “Earlier sports was not considered to be a very lucrative career option, because it was not taken very seriously. That is changing now.” He points out that with the increase in corporate sponsorship of sporting events and sponsorship of individual sports persons, money is not a problem any more. In fact, says Banerjee, “Though small in number, there are crorepatis at the top, especially in some sports, like cricket or tennis.” Citing Sania Mirza, Banerjee says, “She is worth Rs 100 crore, in spite of not having reached even the quarter finals in any Grand Slam event.”

But then, can everyone become a Sania Mirza? After all, her parents pumped in close to Rs 60 lakh for her sporting career and she did start playing at the tender age of six, when, the story goes, the tennis racquet was as tall as her. How many people can spend that kind of money even if they have the talent? And who starts planning a career at that age anyway?

Well, for the sceptics or ? if you prefer ? realists, Dr Prem Chand Kashyap, regional director, Sports Authority of India, Calcutta, has some answers. “A successful career in sports doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to prove yourself as a professional sportsman or sportswoman at the national or international level like a Sania Mirza or a Sourav Ganguly. The field of sports is brimming with other opportunities.” He points out that all government institutions have a two per cent job reservation in the sports quota, which anyone with a sports background is eligible for. Furthermore, those who acquire a degree in sports education or physical fitness, offered by a number of universities across the country, are eligible to get jobs ranging from coaches to physical fitness trainers.

Says Dr Kashyap, “There is a tremendous demand today for coaches in different sports because physical education has become compulsory in most educational institutions across the country. Also, general fitness has become much more important today to the common Indian than it was even a few years ago. So gyms, spas and health centres are mushrooming. And that in turn, is seeing an increase in demand for fitness instructors and trainers.”

Of course, if you are planning to make it big in professional sports ? be it cricket, football, golf, hockey, tennis, swimming or whatever ? there is a host of income sources, including awards, contracts, endorsements, sponsorships and cash prizes. As a matter of fact, according to Dr Kashyap, “This is the more visible and glamourous face of sports and the vast majority refer to this aspect, when they talk about pursuing it as a career.”

Not surprisingly then this is also the most competitive aspect of a career in sports and as cricketer Arun Lal points out, “the toughest to achieve success in.” Explains Lal, who runs a cricket academy in Calcutta to train youngsters in what is considered to be the most popular sport in India, “There is a limited demand for players at the top level, so it is highly competitive and obviously not everyone can make it. There is a lot of insecurity and risk involved.” Therefore, to pursue a career in sports, he points out, you not only need a great deal of talent but also determination, the will to succeed and the spirit to accept defeat.

Arun Lal also says sports aspirants should not neglect academics. “A career implies an occupation, which allows you to earn a living from it. At the height of his or her career, a sportsman or a sportswoman may earn a considerable amount of money. But compared to other professions, the active years for a sports person is much shorter. Therefore, you need to have alternative avenues of income.”

That is exactly what 10-year-old Pranati Nayak, who is training in gymnastics at SAI, Calcutta, is doing. “I want to be a successful gymnast,” she says, “but I know that I also have to study.” At the SAI girls’ hostel, others, such as 21-year-olds N. Akok Tsudy from Nagaland and Nuni Ralte from Mizoram, who are training in boxing and football, respectively, and 22-year-old Madhu Kanwar, who is training in archery, are confident that they will make it in their respective fields. As budding swimmer 18-year-old Debolina Rajat says, “You need to believe in yourself to be in sports.”

But are there other prerequisites for a career in sports? Banerjee feels that “physical fitness and stamina are important as is a healthy lifestyle and diet.” He points out also that particular sports have specific requirements. “While an ideal height for a gymnast is between four feet eleven inches and five feet one inch because the shorter stature helps maintain balance, a basketball player needs to be tall ? preferably over six feet.” He also emphasises the need to start earlier on in life in order to “grow up with your game”.

And then comes the “fulfilment” of success that footballer Bhaichung Bhutia agrees is one of the most rewarding aspects of a sports career. Says Bhutia, “In India, much more needs to be done for sports in terms of subsidy and sponsorship, etc. Still, there are many out there like me who are so passionate about it that they cannot think of pursuing it as anything other than a career.”

The other options

But sports training could also set you up for a career in fitness training or as a coach. According to Dr Kashyap, “As a coach or a trainer, you can expect a starting salary of at least Rs 5,000 a month, which can later go up to Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 and more depending on experience, performance, the institution where you teach and other factors.” And, at the managerial or consultant level, says Preetom Roy Mukherjee, fitness manager and consultant at Solace Gym in Calcutta, “you can command an income that is comparable to some of the most lucrative occupations.” Quoting the kind of rates that fitness managers and consultants can expect, he says, “a part-time consultant can earn Rs 6,000 in four hours. A full-time fitness consultant can earn from 15,000 to 25,000 a month. And a well-trained expert can command no less than Rs 50,000 to Rs 80,000 a month.”

So if you have what it takes, go ahead and make a career in sports. Whether it’s a full sporting career like cricket or tennis or as a coach or a trainer, a career in sports is bound to take you places.