Seeing those making a big name for themselves in sports as mere exceptions, the people of our country hardly look at the medium as a career choice. Yet some higher educational institutions here take sports rather seriously while also holding regular inter-varsity tournaments for their students to participate in.

These colleges and universities are adamant on providing sports facilities to their students through whatever resources made available to them.

Besides keeping one fit and in shape due to the workout involved, physical activity also has an effect on one’s emotional health. According to Mr Riaz Akbar Contractor, manager, Sports and Rehabilitation Centre, Aga Khan University, Karachi, “Physical activity be it simple exercise or playing a sport, relieves stress, helping one cope better with their workload and anxiety besides improving general health.”

The other benefits of indulging in such activity include getting organised, taking responsibility, improve one’s leadership skills and learning to function as a team. “Sports help in building good character. It boosts one’s self confidence and competitive spirit while teaching perseverance, something not acquired in the classroom. Hence, it is as important at the degree level as at the school level because a mature person needs to know more stress-relieving techniques than a youngster studying at the school level does,” points out Contractor.

This is why, in the West, sports and academics go hand in hand. It is something to indulge in at leisure, taken as a physical activity to stay fit and pursued as a career as well. However, if a sports lover wants to pursue sports as a career in our country, it would become, perhaps, the biggest challenge for him or her. The system here may actively support sports at the school level but the same kind of enthusiasm diminishes at the university level.

While students in the West are given scholarships and admissions in colleges and universities on their sports finesse, the scene here can be described through the simple idiom ‘all work and no play’. Sports at the university level are seen as a waste of time and a disturbance when students should be concentrating solely on their studies. Meanwhile, many sports bodies supposedly looking over such activity across the country are functional on paper only or breathing thanks to a few sporadic matches shown as sports activity in order to receive the funds set aside for such work. And consuming those amounts all come up with the same excuse of having “insufficient funds” or lack of interest from the upper hierarchy.

“Conducting sports activities at my university is not easy. There is inadequate space. The building is small and cramped making the institution look like an overpopulated school anyway. So our teams have to avail the costly private facilities from outside for practice,” says Wasio Ali Abbasi, a student at a private university in Clifton. “And there, too, we are limited to only a few sports such as cricket and hockey. If the government gives proper attention to this area, it can turn sports into viable careers for students just like students in the West get professional training in American football, basketball, baseball, etc.,” he adds.

“Although we give our students a chance to bring out their sporting talent as much as they can by arranging tournaments between various universities on our premises, it is still true that academics at this level remain a priority with the students,” observes Contractor.