Something for Paras to Do

Ok, your drunkeness, time to put your money where your mouth is. You claim to be Mr. bigshot sportsman and all-around athletic supporter; let's see you prove it.

Our Nepal boys Under 19 cricket players have just won the ACC tournament in Nepal. In fact, they've won it the last three years running. In fact, our young cricketeers are arguably the best in Asia. Come to think of it, our youth footballers and badminton team hold their own on the Asian level as well.

(Pictured) Boys U-19 team celebrates as ACC champions


So, why not our senior teams? U-19 cricket coach Roy Dias, while proud of his boys, laments that Nepal is not playing for the Asia (seniors) cup in cricket. Why is this?

A good article written this week sums it up nicely: Boys under 19 have time, older boys do not. The pressures of earning a living and ,well, surviving in Nepal prove too much for our most talented athletes; most quit sports altogether after their youth careers are finished.

So here you go Paras, drop your golf clubs for a moment and consider doing this: Initiate, with your royal millions, a sponsorship program that allows talented boys and girls to move on to national and international proficiency in their sports. We already do this in Tae Kwon Do, so why not cricket and football as well? C'mon Prince, Moriarty will forgive you if you miss a tee time or two while you think it over. Hire international-level coaches, trainers and staff and give these talented young athletes all the chances they deserve. Here's the big part: subsidize their living expenses. Take the earning pressure off of them.

Blogdai was priveledged to be able to walk around the TU cricket venue during the finals. There was not one CPN-UML banner, not one NC flag, and no slogans present. What was apparent were hundreds of young spectators waving Nepal flags and faces painted with "Jai Nepal."

In a nation that is sorely lacking national unity, patriotism and direction, there is no better way to introduce these concepts than through a winning national sports team. Nepalis are hungry for this. They crave any legitimate unifying force. I forget her name right now, but the likeness of that girl who won the Tae Kwon Do medal at the Asian Games last year appears on dozens of billboards throughout Kathmandu; the country went wild when she won her medal. Imagine what would happen if, say, someday a Nepali national team knocked off India or China in football or cricket?

Sports success on an international level gives any country a sense of place in the world. So, you want people to participate in a national election? Support the King? Stop hating you? Then, Paras old buddy, quit blabbing about your commitment to sports in Nepal and start spending some rupees to move our young athletes to the next level. Don't blow it this time.

-=blogdai