By Siddharth Viswanathan
When Royal Challengers Bengaluru undertake certain initiatives, there is tremendous interest generated among stakeholders in Indian sports. Primarily because RCB are one of the most popular franchises when it comes to IPL or WPL in world cricket. Recently, during the sidelines of Women’s Premier League event in Bengaluru, Royal Challengers Bengaluru officially launched the Sports Forward Nation Report. This report was inspired by two events. The first one being India bidding for the 2036 Summer Olympics. Second, it was a collection of ideas that were generated during the RCB Indian Sports Summit in November 2023.
Sports Forward Nation documents the importance of ensuring that sports and physical activity are well integrated and accessible from grassroots to elite level. Currently, there is a significant growth in the sports technology business landscape, performance initiatives amongst stakeholders and work done within communities and sports for society.
Rajesh Menon, the COO of RCB spoke about the benefits of Sports Forward Nation in an exclusive interview with Sports Today. Menon remarked,
“Sports Forward Nation was started by how we could contribute back to Indian sport. With PM Modi’s vision of hosting the 2036 Olympics in India, we thought about how we can help in the participation of athletes. We invest in the upcoming talent. When they start performing, that will be the fodder for us to take them forward.”
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What are the key elements of Sports Forward Nation?
Sports Forward Nation might have been inspired by India’s push to host the 2036 Olympics, but it underlines the importance of sport as a nation-building component for 2047, the year when India celebrates its 100th Independence Day. The Sports Forward Nation has identified four pillars for growth of the sports ecosystem. These include commerce, technology, performance and societal impact. A cohesive ten-step roadmap has been implemented to build an ecosystem that drives sport forward and positions it as a key driver of national progress.
The ten steps that Sports Forward Nation has suggested are developing policy blueprints and frameworks, building regulatory institutions, creating transparent talent progression paths, provide sustainable business climate, use technology, sports entrepreneurship, integrating physical literacy in schools, enhance nation-wide sports participation, leverage sports as tool for social and development purpose and invest in sports science as well as indigenous knowledge.
With India trying to become a sports superpower, Sports Forward Nation is a report that could fuel India’s ambition for sporting growth in the coming years and decade.
