What India can learn from the American Sports System?

The college football (American Football) season kicks off in full swing this Saturday. For most of you that means nothing at all. But for those of you who went to one of the big sports schools in the US, it is the beginning of the best four months of the year.

The excitement of the season for us college football fans is as much as what we feel for the world cup or any big sporting event. I love my Texas Longhorns as much as the Indian Cricket team or Roger Federer or Tiger Woods.

Now, if you are wondering why am I writing about a sport that only three people in India really care about, it is because India can learn a lot from the American system of talent and sports development. After the recent series in England the lack of depth in our sports teams is pretty evident.

The system in American Sports is very clear. It is applicable for all American sports but to make it easier I will use football as an example.

Right from the 10^th and 11^th grade in high school a talented football player is spotted by coaches from all the top college football programs in the country. The player is written about, recruited by various institutes and becomes a storyline in the sport for the next 2 or 3 years.

In the mean time there are about 5-6 lists made by leading sports publications like ESPN and Rivals about the top 100, top 200 and even top 500 high school prospects across the country.

It is the job of these publications to have teams across the country ranking and grading every high school player. Recruits are then given a star rating- 5 stars being the highest.

More than the journalists each college has teams across the 50 states trying to find the best player they can for their college.

During the athletes senior year in high school the recruiting becomes intense. Coaches visit the player and his family. The player is taken on campus visits to the top programs across the nation with a full scholarship offer waiting for him.

In February of the athletes final semester in school there is an annual signing day where the prospect announces which college they will be going to. Some students don’t wait till the final day to announce and commit even earlier to a particular college.

In August the athletes join campus and begin playing college football.

A 5 star recruit might become a star in college or may be a bust and then you can have a 3 star recruit who outshines everyone in his recruiting class. That is the beauty of it. Once you are in college, almost everyone starts on a level playing field.

Nothing better describes the “American Way” than sports. Either step up and perform, or move out. You may have been a high school star, but you are in college now son.

Through a students 4-year college playing career the stars of the college game are watched, studied and scouted by the 32 teams of the National Football League. Finally a place where a player can get paid and play professionally.

At the end of their college career the students enter the NFL draft held annually in April where teams pick players who they hope will be the next stars of their franchise.

Some of the players drafted in the first round sign $50 million contracts at the tender age of 22. Not too shabby.

As an ardent college football and NFL fan, in the last 13 years I have followed players from high school to the Super Bowl.

If you are still reading this then let me plant a seed of thought. What if we had such a system in India for Cricket, Hockey, Football (Soccer) and every other sport?

What would happen to our talent search then?

There are many things that are required for such a system to work in India. Some which may be loosely in place already, but I’ll leave those details for another blog.