Grassroots sports at zero in Gujarat, says data
AHMEDABAD: Although Ahmedabad was elevated as the official host of 2030 Commonwealth Games at the Commonwealth Sport General Assembly in Glasgow, data placed before the Rajya Sabha exposes a stark domestic reality: Gujarats grassroots sports ecosystem, at least on paper, is virtually non-existent. The approval came with clarity between 15 and 17 disciplines, spanning athletics, para-sports, swimming, gymnastics, weightlifting, boxing and netball, are slated for Ahmedabad-2030, promising inclusivity, scale and spectacle. However, just as the international spotlight brightened, a parallel set of numbers dimmed the celebration. Figures formally presented in the House on Thursday by the Union Sports Ministry, tell a sharply different story one rooted not in aspiration, but in absence. According to the government, Gujarat currently has zero Sports Authority of India (SAI) Training Centres (STCs). Besides, extension centres, meant to bridge talent gaps, barely register. The state has just one extension centre, yet it reports zero residential athletes and non-residential athletes, across both genders. Infrastructure exists in name, participation does not exist in numbers. SAI adopted akharas also reflects a complete vacuum. In totality, every grassroots pipeline meant to feed elite performance shows a flat line. The only measurable presence comes at the very top: two National Centres of Excellence (NCOEs). Yet even this lone data point underscores the imbalance elite-level facilities standing tall, while feeder systems beneath them remain statistically invisible. This contradiction is not cosmetic; it is structural. On one side, Gujarat prepares to host events in athletics, para-athletics, swimming, para-swimming, table tennis, para-table tennis, bowls, para-bowls, weightlifting, para-powerlifting, artistic gymnastics, netball and boxing sports that demand deep talent pools, long-term athlete development and robust training ecosystems. On the other, Parliament is told that the state has no SAI-supported grassroots athletes at all. The numbers raise a blunt question: Can a state leap directly to hosting a mega multi-sport event while its foundational athlete pipeline records zero? Ahmedabads Commonwealth Games dream, therefore, stands split between vision and verification global approval abroad, but domestic data at home that demands urgent scrutiny, course correction and transparency. Stadiums can be built on timelines but athletes cannot be built on announcements alone.
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