An important factor affecting sports development in India has been a longstanding issue with deploying policy initiatives introduced as early as 2001. Consequently, this paper explores policies implemented in India till today, highlighting two main issues; inadequate consideration of certain aspects of policy formulation and lack of effective implementation. Policy transfer is then explored as an option to overcome formulation issues of lack of feasibility, financial assistance and knowledge. The success of policy transfer (both external and internal) would, however, depend on how effectively India manages to implement the policies. India can formulate the best policies but, if they are not implemented effectively, the return might remain low. Consequently, we highlight the need for India to prioritise effective policy implementation whilst considering policy transfer as an option to overcome formulation issues.
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Rationale/Purpose: : Despite its best efforts, India is still struggling to succeed in international sport. Consequently, this study aimed to firstly, contribute an empirically driven rich picture of the current sports environment in India and secondly, to explore management factors that might explain India’s elite sport achievements and stagnations. Design/Methodology/Approach: : A purposeful sample of 25 key stakeholders (high level athletes, coaches, administrators and government officials) were interviewed. Data were analysed using thematic analysis and reviewed against factors identified by Green and Oakley (2001) as those contributing to elite success. Findings: : Participants revealed that India is definitely doing better on factors such as financial assistance and job security; issues that were always a constant source of concern in the past. Importantly, however, further exploration highlighted that resources invested in Indian sport are not being used effectively and that India may be following an erroneous pathway of prioritizing hardware over liveware (i.e. stadia over people). Practical Implications: : The study provides some initial conclusions that managing the available resources differently by prioritizing development of Indian coaches and a coach development system might better facilitate India’s success in sport. Research Contributions: : The current study, to the best of our knowledge, represents an important but comparatively unprecedented step towards trying to unwrap the sports field in India, a diverse and vast country.
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Sport kan net als kunst, muziek en kleding ook worden gezien als een maatschappelijk verschijnsel dat inzicht geeft in de hedendaagse cultuur. Verborgen competitie belicht juist deze kant van de sport. Hierbij staan eenvoudige vragen centraal die velen interesseren, maar waaraan nog maar weinigen aandacht hebben besteed. Waarom behoort American football tot de populairste sporten van de Verenigde Staten, is China een tafeltennisbolwerk, Nederland een schaatsland en Nieuw-Zeeland een rugbynatie? Waarom wordt voetbal wereldwijd massaal beoefend en kent korfbal alleen in ons land een grote populariteit? Maarten van Bottenburg beschrijft de verspreiding en popularisering van ongeveer dertig sporten over de hele wereld in de afgelopen honderd jaar en biedt de lezer daarmee een mondiaal sportpanorama. Door het lezen van Verborgen competitie krijgt u meer inzicht in de mondialisering van de hedendaagse cultuur en in de wijze waarop mensen zich door hun sportvoorkeuren aan anderen binden of zich van hen onderscheiden.
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