24 February 2009

Will sports follow the movies?

I came across an interesting article about a new generation of directors changing Nepal's "Bollywood formula" movie industry. Basically the article talks about how younger directors are bringing modern elements to Nepali movies from the script to the filming equipment.

Now I'm not going to get carried away by one article, Rajesh Hamal is not retiring anytime soon, but the piece did make me think about possible parallels with Nepal's sports industry. Are there some young up and coming sports "directors" out there who will lead the way in transforming the sports establishment in Nepal? Most of us certainly hope so, but one major difference between sports and the arts is that with the arts anyone can just pick-up a paint brush or camera and create something. They can then publish it relatively easily - on the Internet, a studio gallery or even on the side of the street and create a buzz.

Sports is much more bureaucratic in this regard. It's difficult to do things independently. If you want to make decisions, you have to get elected. If you want to play then you will need an opponent to play against and your matches need to be sanctioned by a governing body. You can be the fastest runner in Nepal, but if the Nepal athletic officials deny you entry into their qualifying events - no one will know how fast you are and you won't be competing internationally.