The age-old cliché that one must make their own choices if we want to get ahead in life is as old as the art of management itself. The rationale for this simple observation is that time doesn’t have an undo button and thus, you have to not only make your own choices but also live with them – no matter what they are. But what about mentorship? When young people plan for their future, how often do they think about who their mentors will be – both at work and in life?

Can the argument not be made that a lot of the times, the ones who end up going places are the ones who weren’t lucky to have good mentors but rather conscious of where the good mentors were and what they needed to do in order to get into those teams?

Neeraj Chopra – the Golden Boy of Indian athletics – knew the importance of making this choice and making it early in his career. Even before his milestones were founded in ink.

But before the decision-making, a little perspective. Neeraj has been a top-notch athlete throughout his junior days and despite being all of 20-years-old, he has been launching the 2.5 spear at diabolical distances. In July 2016, the Panipat native’s exploits at the World Junior Championships would’ve caught the attention of the rest of the world as he smashed the World Record – for the juniors – en route to capturing Gold. At the recent Commonwealth Games in Australia, Neeraj won gold in the Javelin after throwing his season’s best, thus, adding further proof that his progression from a promising junior to an open field with the world’s best is happening seamlessly.

But on this transition, a little-known fact is that Neeraj has had different coaches at both the World Junior Championships and the recently concluded Commonwealth Games. At the World’s, Neeraj was coached by the Australian Garry Calvert but for his preparation for the Commonwealth Games, Neeraj was coached by the German Werner Daniels. But on both occasions, the final call wasn’t taken anyone other than Neeraj himself and in both instances; he made sure to back it up by capturing Gold. Whilst his competitive feats already separate Neeraj from the also-rans, it is this decisiveness in decision-making that also stands-out.

Has his decision to train in Germany caused controversy? It has. Would he be criticized if he did not do well in the Commonwealth and then followed it up with a few mediocre performances through the rest of 2018? It would have. But in all of this, Neeraj has been making decisions on his terms. Without a doubt, Neeraj has made it amply clear that he considers mentoring, coaching, to be a critical cog in the grand transition from Junior World Championships to Senior World Championships and the Olympics and thus he wants to make the final call.

By not going by the book, Neeraj isn’t being a rebel, nor is he hinting at any deficiencies in the Indian Sporting system. But by taking full responsibility for his decisions, and backing it with an admirable work ethic and a fierce competitive streak, Neeraj is a beacon for youngsters across India. In choosing our paths to whatever the future has for us, we can’t cede control when it comes to a single big decision. This is critical as making mistakes and learning are part and parcel of life and we all grow to realize this but not making those big tough decisions on our own terms, especially a decision like who we learn from, is an early cause for regret.

As of now, has Neeraj been vindicated for his decisions? Well, his laurels speak for themselves.

Young Indian female athletes are breaking long-standing records and delivering results and medals to consolidate the belief that we are making inroads in our fight for equality in all areas.

Indian women athletes are as capable as men on the track – a platform to flaunt their speed and power – than they’re as capable anywhere else.

While the country’s elite male athletes and sportspersons have won accolades around the world in recent years, with increased depth being built on a foundation of quality performances, the nation’s top women have been blazing the track, field and all other sport scenes for some time now.

Indian women athletes are often confronted with the lack of women-friendly education and sports facilities and equipment, such as lack of only-girls’ educational institutions and non-sporting institutes, which discourage them from further exceling in sport.

Likewise, misconceptions of girls participating in sports by parents, teachers, and coaches often dissuade them from playing sport even when they do have access.

And yet, India’s resilient sportswomen are defying these challenges, proving that they can achieve great success on and off the field, to script unprecedented stories of women empowerment using sports as a medium coequal the male athletes.

The growth and success of female Indian athletes on the global stage – whether it is in track and field, football, or gymnastics, shows that sports can be a powerful tool when it comes to breaking barriers and empowering women.

These extraordinary Indian female athletes have managed to materialize many of the dreams that even we cherish in our hearts but haven’t been able to nourish and let those dreams sprout up high. We get scared of what the society might say, we bring in a million negative probabilities that could stumble us down, and so, often we just limit our dreams because of things that aren’t even a major problem!

The spirit of #WinLikeAGirl has been embodied through these daughters of India. Their stories have inspired a generation and have truly transformed India into a strong female sporting nation.

In the modern era of sport, the role of corporate/brand becomes essential to enable the athletes, by identifying the right talent at the right age, and by nurturing that talent to make it competitive against the best in the world.

From training infrastructure, diet, support staffs, brand management the support of brands and corporates is imperative for the development of athletes, and that has been the success story with the emergence of key corporate players and brands willing to back athletes.

However, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There is much more that corporate brands and their partners can do to level the playing field for India’s athletes. Programs like the IndusInd Girl Power Program are committed to advocating the cause of women’s access to sports education, so that women and girls across the region have every advantage to advance and becomes future Olympians; future success stories in the Indian sporting world

With companies like IndusInd  Bank willing to share their support for Indian female athletes, using athletics as a medium for skill acquisition, girls across the region have every advantage to grace the podium, a testament to their athletic prowess to #WinLikeAGirl.

As part of the Indian athletic contingent vying for glory in the Asian Games, the number of women athletes almost matches, if not surpasses the men. There is also this unique collection of stories, of courage, determination and special talent for overcoming obstacles. Let’s be honest, being a sports woman in India is tough, a fight against realities off the field as much as on it. But despite these circumstances, our women champions in Jakarta can’t be questioned on the lack of heart, or application.

In the last five years, what has been a welcoming sight is enmeshed in the incredible stories of these women. Stories of brands and companies who want nothing more than to see one of their own do well in front of a global audience. Whilst some of them have helped build facilities like Tata, that train our finest sportswomen, others have gone the scholarship and funding route like IndusInd Bank. The endorsement has been for fighters, competitors and game changers.

Many Indian brands have partnered with these wonderful women and done their bit to support them on their journeys – be it on the wrestling mat, the boxing ring or for Paralympians who have battled the odds twice over. There is no bigger validation than a gold medal, but we are confident in our knowledge that our athletes will make the nation proud.

To the rest of India, our request is a simple call to action: let us do all we can to celebrate our finest. It could be a Twitter retweet, or an interesting photo caption on Instagram, or even a rallying cry to those around us at school, home and at work. In the end, the little things matter. These women champions don’t ask much; let them not ask for our support.

Think of a Premier League game, any premier league game from last season. When the players are walking into the stadium, there’s one accessory ― in the case of many, it will resonate with almost any of us; it’s their headphones. This isn’t isolated to footballers only. Rather, it’s a ritual that is embedded in the sporting ecosystem. Music is a form of self-expression and so often, lost in the vicious cycle of winning and losing and that we tend to forget that these athletes, beyond embodying athletic excellence, are expressing themselves in front of an audience that ranges from a few hundred to many thousands.
This shouldn’t surprise any of us. Before a big game, seasoned professionals are also at the mercy of doubt, nervousness and afflicted by a bout of what ifs, and their response ― like most of us ― is to seek calmness and tranquillity.
Just like us, they also seek refuge in a playlist. In the world of music notes and decibels.
But does music help in enhancing athletic performance? Can we say an athlete did better because he or she heard something from the stands or listened to a favourite groove before going out onto the field?
Earlier this year, research done with over 150 participants stated that listening to motivational music didn’t necessarily improve athletic performance, but it did increase the risk-taking threshold. What would pique the interests of anyone who believes in the power of a playlist?
Researchers found that there was a positive impact of performance when the subjects were allowed to ‘choose’ their motivational music. However, outside of risk-taking, the results were focused on the psychological aspects rather than a reflection of improved self-esteem and how it helped them have a better mind-set.
So, the next time you see the All Blacks perform the Haka, the reason could be less about intimidation ― although rugby players have stated that it is indeed unnerving and more to do with getting into the right mind-set before a game.
On the other side of the aisle, Costas Karageorghis, who for over two decades has worked extensively on the effects of music on the brain, believes that music can have a direct correlation to athletic performance. Karageorghis found that listening to music helped stimulate certain parts of the brain that are responsible for our motor functions and our rhythm and coordination. Moreover, he also stated that music helps in the reducing the levels of cortisol – a hormone related to stress.
Perhaps, the most interesting take from Karageorghis’ research is that synching the tempo of a track to your heart rate can lead to positive outcomes like an increase in stamina but the caveat here is that if the tempo reaches over 140 BPM (beats per minute), the impact wears off.
Sticking to endurance, in another study done by Brunel University, researchers found that listening to music resulted in a 12% reduction of the subjects’ perceived effort whilst at the same time improved endurance by 15%.
For athletes who listen to music pre-event, the consensus didn’t huddle around performance. Instead, they stated that music helped them get pumped up. A classic example of this is Haile Gebrselassie – arguably the greatest long-distance runner of all time. The Ethiopian made it a point to request organizers to play the techno track Scatman ― which has a BPM of 135 ― during his races as he felt it helped him run better. But what if the emotion before an event is that of anxiety and nerves? To keep herself calm and not overly excited before a big race, Kelly Holmes ― a two-time
Olympic Gold- Medallist ― would listen to Alicia Keys’ No One in order to ascend to a state of Zen-like calm and more importantly, not succumb to anxiety.
The impact of music on athletic performance is incredibly varied and you can’t lock down one track of one playlist that will drastically spur an athlete into performing at elevated levels. But researchers across the board have definitely found that while music’s impact on athletic performance is still debatable, there seems to be a correlation between music and the psychological state of an athlete.