The next generation of Indian Olympians and Paralympians: a role for Australia
Shams Aalam, Founder Para Sports Association Mumbai
Sport has been intertwined with a national pride and world politics for as long as it has existed, and when it comes strengthening relations between Australia and India, sport plays a special role.
During my visits to Sydney and the Melbourne Cricket Club for the Australia India Youth Dialogue program in 2022, I got to know how sport functions in Australia and was struck by how disability-friendly it is.
Organisations such as FIFA and the Olympics are increasingly ensuring sport is more inclusive. And for India and Australia there are new opportunities to take our sports relationship well beyond our mutual love of cricket to collaborating on a more wholistic level, whether it is ensuring sports are accessible to all, or collaborating in sports science and sports management.
Why should sport be a focus of bilateral relations between India and Australia? The simple answer is that sport transcends difference. When it comes to sports we don’t see religion, caste, or creed. When sportspersons meet they introduce each other through their name and the sports they play, not the country they are from. Sport has a unifying effect.
Sports-themed programs also offer participants the opportunity to interact with each other’s society, culture, and values firsthand.
India’s Prime Minister Narenda Modi has made improving sporting outcomes a strategic priority in India, and Australia is a country known for its sports diplomacy. Given this complementarity, sports are an obvious focus for the next phase of India’s strengthening bilateral ties with Australia.
After the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic and Olympic events, I noticed here in India, as a sports diplomat and founder of the Para-swimming Association of Mumbai and Para Sports Association Mumbai, that the Paralympic ecosystem in India can benefit from collaboration with countries like Australia. Though both countries signed a sports memorandum of understanding in 2014, it made no mention of collaboration focused specifically on Paralympic sports. Given how bilateral relations have grown and matured since the MOU was signed, the time is ripe for a refresh of the MOU and the inclusion of Paralympic sports as a domain for collaboration.
Collaboration also needs to include the crucial role of management staff. Australian organisations are well placed to provide expertise in sports management, training, consultancy and education. Though there has been some one-off exchange programs in sport management between Australia and India, the formalisation of such a program could ensure its consistency. India recently excelled at the Tokyo Paralympics, but there is a lack of educated management staff who can understand how to deal with people living with disabilities before, during, and after sports.
It would be highly beneficial if both countries were to establish a collaborative championship training program, matches, and conference on sports management and training, not only in mainstream sports but also in Paralympic sports. This could look like a structured sports exchange program with the Australian Sports Commission or Disability Sports Australia.
Sports science is another area that should be a focus of collaboration. Sports Science is a crucial part of the contemporary sports world, especially for Paralympic sports. Various tests like anthropometry, physiotherapy, muscle tests and blood tests, have become an important part of sporting competitions worldwide. The Indian government through the Sports Ministry is providing substantial investments in sports sciences, most recently with the announcement of a sports university in Bengaluru. It will be India’s second sports-dedicated university after the National Sports University in Imphal, Manipur.
In Australia, Peter Varghese’s 2018 report, An India Economic Strategy to 2035, recommended that the Australian government ‘Position Australia to take a leading role in supporting the Indian Government to develop its National Sports University’. Bengaluru would be a perfect opportunity to follow through on that recommendation.
Sports science is particularly important to Paralympic sports since athletes require specialist coaching and sport science services. For example, our sport categories are designed based on the disabilities athletes are living with. For instance, in swimming, we have 10 different categories ranging from people living with intellectual disabilities like Down syndrome to people with visual impairment. These categories are based on expert research.
In addition to exchange programs with the Australian Sports Commission, the Australian government could explore the development of scholarships for Indian sports scientists and establish residential programs for Indian sport science scholars in national sporting organisations. As recommended in the Varghese Report, this could look like scholarship programs for Indian students at the Australian Institute of Sport.
During the world championships, I was coming back from an event when I met Australian Paralympic swimmer Grant Patterson. We talked about where we both came from, exchanged our ideas, and became friends. Merely a one-day interaction between me and Grant resulted in a lasting connection.
We can only imagine how much a sports exchange program will help in getting to know each other’s culture and sports management better, and strengthen the ties between India and Australia.
Shams Alam is the fastest Indian paraplegic swimmer. He is a TEDx speaker, a sports diplomat, disability rights activist and accessibility expert. Shams holds the current world record for the longest open sea swim by a paraplegic. He is a wheelchair model and an ambassador for inclusive education. He’s also an international karate champion and the founder of the Para Sports Association Mumbai. In 2021 he received the Atal Mithila Samman Award in India and was named 2020 Best Sportsperson with Disabilities by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in India. In 2018 he was named an emerging sports leader by the US Department of State, and spent f ive weeks in Texas as part of their Global Sports Mentoring Program.