Legends-Check. Trendsetters-Check. Inspiration- Check. In their glorious careers, our master blaster (34, 357 international runs), flying Sikh (4 times Asian gold medallist, 3 times Olympian), Iceman (Olympic gold medallist), Super Saina (Olympic bronze medallist), and Magnificent Mary (Olympic Bronze medallist) have surmounted infinite peaks, and made our hearts fill with pride. These stalwarts have many things in common-unparallel dedication, unwavering focus, unmatchable passion, and unassailable commitment. And, they were on the right path from the very beginning. That path made them distinct.
Just imagine, what would have happened if Sachin’s parents chose to hand him a racquet, instead of a bat? Or, Mary Kom and Sushil Kumar exchanged places? The burly wrestler in the boxing ring and the swift pugilist fighting dangals? Things wouldn’t have been similar, surely, and it’s highly probable that tricolor wouldn’t have been hoisted at international sporting events with the same frequency as it’s now. Thankfully, our stars were had great mentors who gauged their talents at a young age and taught them right. Saina perfected her smashes, Bindra worked on spotting bull’s eye, and Mary strengthened her jabs. And, before everything, they picked the right sport.
Stats say that there are 20 Olympic and 16 non-Olympic sports actively played in India, and an average Indian child is exposed to at least 10 of them. The number is even more in case of metro cities. That’s great, isn’t it? More the exposure, greater the choices, higher the probability of succeeding in at least one of them. But, how do we decide the “one” sport?
MSA-The solution
Here, comes MSA, or Motor Skills Assessment. Before we go on and elaborate on MSA, let us ask you another question. Are you aware that on medals to population, and medals to GDP ratio, India ranked lowest among 205 nations, in Rio Olympics 2016? We fared worse than some of the world’s smallest nations, such as Fiji and Armenia, and underdeveloped nations like Ethiopia. Indians always had the talent; we are next to none when it comes to hard work, then, why do we face such embarrassing numbers? Why can’t we have more Sainas, Milkhas, and Bindras?
For this to happen, as the sporting cliché goes, the basics have to be right. And, the very first, is choosing the right sport to play. Motor skills assessment, an initiative of ASSRM (academy of sports sciences research and management), aids in exactly the same. Using five motor abilities parameters, MSA determines the best sport for a child at an early age.
MSA-How does it work?
Designed specifically for kids within the age group of 8-16 years, MSA help parents and instructors determine which sport is best for a child, i.e., where is the highest probability of making a successful career. The evaluation parameters are the vertical jump (for lower body strength), ball throw (upper body strength), 30 meters flying start (for judging acceleration), 6 by 10 shuttle run (for agility), and 800 meters run (for endurance).
Let’s put this into perspective- a professional badminton player, for instance the charismatic PV Sindhu, would score better than a Sunil Chhetri on upper body strength, whereas Chhetri would outdo Sindhu when it comes to agility, as Badminton requires more upper body strength, as compared to soccer, the case being vice versa with agility. Similarly, every major sport has varied demands when it comes to these five core motor ability parameters, and MSA matches the child’s skills and abilities with the best possible sport for him. To read more on MSA, follow assessment.allsport.in
Allsport Contribution
But, in this MSA story, where does AllSport come in? We are the proud technology partners for MSA program, under which, we have developed an Android application, which has exciting features such as a dashboard, a report card, and many others, which would discuss with you in our next blog! Till then, shall you wish to read more on who we are and what we do, click here
Or, follow us to get a glance at how we are attempting to do our bit towards digitization of sport.
Want to get in touch with our team. Just fill the form below
