You would think victory in an international sporting event would make the participants feel like superstars. With the world at their feet. And the stars in their eyes. Think again. In India, sportswomen are hardly ever role models or stars. Tennis, athletics and golf do recognise individual brilliance, but in team games like hockey, football and cricket, that’s asking for the moon.
HOCKEY: Slogans like Jassi (Jasjeet) jaisi koi nahi or “Golden girls of hockey,” rent the air as the Indian women’s hockey team beat Japan 1-0 in the finals of the Asia Cup. The win made no difference to their lives. They knew that after the party was over, it would be back to their humdrum lives — travelling by sleeper class, catching a bus to office, arguing with families over marriage plans and struggling to make ends meet with a paltry salary of Rs 5,000. “We are stars for just a day,” says Suman Bala, part of the Indian hockey team. “No one recognises us the moment we are out of the hockey field.” This, from a person who has represented India a dozen times.
Any spin-offs? “A few thousand rupees as salary and a few more as cash reward — hardly sufficient to run a family,” says a player who wanted to remain anonymous, fearing vindictive federation officials.
And that’s the way their life has been. Be it the federation, government or people — support and recognition have always evaded them. Concern too. For these golden girls, the night Bryan Adams crooned Night to remember at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (JNS) here, it truly was a night to remember — they hardly slept amid all the music.
That’s not all. After a hard day’s training, they wake up early to wash clothes. They are kept in dormitories at the stadium while players of visiting foreign teams stay in five-star hotels. However, the secretary of the Indian Women’s Hockey Federation (IWHF), Amrit Bose, maintains that “the girls are more comfortable in the JNS room.” She even tells captain Suraj Lata Devi to “tell this to the press.” Devi obliges. Explains a player, “Many who protested against the high-handedness of the federation have been given the boot. Beggars can’t be choosers.” Is it any wonder then that rather than ask for another shirt for playing, these players prefer to wash the ones they have in the night and iron it the morning?
Jobs: Women hockey players have limited options. Most try to get into the Railways; a few unlucky ones have to be content with a constable’s job. The Railways recruit them as junior clerks; promotions happen in a few years. Few go on to be superintendents. __Travel: What’s the attraction then? Free travel passes. Domestic level players are given second-class sleeper passes while international players get AC passes. “We got them only after we won the Manchester Commonwealth Games gold in 2002,” says Surinder Kaur.
Those who miss this `gravy train’ play on a contract basis for A-I. “Apart from getting a job, there’s no other attraction in playing for India,” admits one player.
Match fees: Guess what they got after winning the Asia Cup? Rs 25,000 each. The men’s hockey team on the other hand was given Rs 1.5 lakh by Sahara India Parivar for the same achievement a few months back. Plus, the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) had promised Rs 1 lakh each. Dhanraj Pillay, for example, is an officer with IA and he’s not even a graduate. The men also endorse products and make money by attending private functions.
Promises to these girls by politicians have been galore. Rarely has the money reached them. For example, out of the Rs 10 lakh promised by Union sports minister Uma Bharti after the Commonwealth Games, only Rs 2.5 lakh has reached them.
Endorsements? “None,” says 16-year-old Jasjeet Kaur, the star of the Asia Cup. “I fail to understand why corporates don’t have faith in our capabilities,” says Devi. No sponsors means lack of funds which means lack of foreign exposure. Net result? No result.
CRICKET: Women cricketers are little known, unlike their glamorous male counterparts. Does anyone remember Mithali Raj’s record feat of 214 runs against England in 2001 — the highest score in women’s Test cricket? Some photo-ops, interviews and felicitations later, she went into oblivion. The captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, Anjum Chopra, says that people’s response, the government’s apathy and the federation’s limitations all add to the misery. “Everyone is indifferent.” she says. Even in a cricket-crazy country like ours. “The sport is the same but the treatment of women is different. However, since the rules of the game are the same, women have to work harder to achieve the high fitness levels. But the revenue is different.”
Jobs: The same as hockey players. Chopra is an exception due to her high qualifications — a post-graduate with an MBA. She’s an officer in the Bank of Punjab and gets a salary of about Rs 15,000. Most women quit cricket because they don’t find a placement. It is after all an expensive and time-consuming sport.
Match fees: When they played a Test and five one-dayers against England recently, the women were given just Rs 7,500 each. Compare this to the men who get nothing less than a lakh. As for endorsements, forget it. Only the kit is sponsored.
Travel: By train unlike the men who fly executive class. “Forget AC or first class. That’s only for players of the Railways. For the rest, it’s the same sleeper class,” says Chopra.
Training: She would love to have someone like Andrew Leipus training their team. “A professional physical trainer would take care of our injuries too.” But she knows that’s a pipe dream. They hardly have much choice in the diet as compared to men cricketers. “We don’t get a variety in juices or food items. We can’t demand it either,” she says.
The scene here? Women footballers try hard to get away from cooking aloo gobhi a la Bend it like Beckham, but ultimately end up doing that only. The story is the same: lack of encouragement, lack of proper planning, funds, foreign exposure, training facilities and job opportunities. They either give up the sport or take up coaching.
