A rare guide for future champions

Sreekar has put together an invaluable book Behind a Sports Champion

It is a unique venture, a book that will provide comprehensive guidance to the parents of aspiring champions.

An engineer by profession, but an all-round sportsman, Sreekar Mothukuri, who has played badminton, cricket, tennis and table tennis at different levels in India and abroad, has interviewed the sports stars, their parents, the coaches, psychologists, nutritionists, doctors and fitness experts in putting together an invaluable book, Behind a Sports Champion, which is ready for global launch this month.

First coaches

“Parents are the first coaches of the child. If parents do not show commitment, the child will not show interest,” says P.V. Ramana, father of World Champion and double Olympic medallist P.V. Sindhu.

“He started playing table tennis at the age of five. In juniors, he never achieved anything. If we had stopped my son in the 10th grade as he was not getting results, we would have missed one Padma Shri,” says Srinivas Rao, father of table tennis star Sharath Kamal.

Sreekar wanted to be a cricketer, but could not pursue his goal despite being motivated and committed, owing to “lack of knowledge and guidance”.

That is the prime reason for the emergence of the book, a guide to the parents with live examples and insights from a variety of sports.

“Parents should focus on their child’s education and nutrition. They should not interfere in the child’s sports. The more they interfere, the more it will affect their child’s performance,” says Dinesh Lad, coach of Rohit Sharma and Shardul Thakur.

Renowned chess coach R.B. Ramesh suggests that “parents should not spend beyond their means” as it would backfire if the child does not meet their expectations with results.

“Children can start fitness training after 12, but only if they enjoy it,” says Shankar Basu, former strength and conditioning coach of the Indian cricket team.

Treasure trove

With more than 50 interviews, the book spanning 350-odd pages is a treasure trove of lively experience of many brilliant careers.

The author, who has travelled across the country and abroad for the interviews, warns that there is no ready-made formula for success but points out that, “the chances of success increase if you follow the right steps suggested by the experts”.

Sreekar beautifully sums up by saying that the idea was to help parents and the young champions, “navigate the rocky road of youth sports, enjoy sports and be the best they can be”.

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