Cricket and squash aside, LA28 debutants vying to be noticed in India

For sports such as baseball/softball, flag football and lacrosse — all of which will be part of LA 2028 — daily survival continues to remain biggest struggle

Three-time Olympic gold medallist Italian shooter Niccolo Campriani, in his new avatar as the sports director of 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, used Virat Kohli's Instagram followers count to drive home the point of cricket's inclusion in the 2028 Games in the recent IOC Session. Saurav Ghosal, a name almost synonymous with Indian squash for the last couple of decades, was present at the Session in Mumbai to celebrate squash's Olympic inclusion after a seemingly endless wait.

FILE - The Olympic rings in front of the Paris City Hall, in Paris, Sunday, April 30, 2023. France’s military is planning to contribute 15,000 soldiers to the massive security operation for next year's Paris Olympics, it was reported on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File) (AP)

With that, there was a strong Indian connect with two of the five new sports added to the Los Angeles Olympics in five years’ time. But, what about the other three? Well, baseball/softball, flag football and lacrosse may have been mere mentions on that day from an Indian perspective, but their presence is a bit more than that in the country.

For instance, did you know that on Thursday, the 36th Senior National Baseball Championship kicked off in Sangrur, Punjab, with more than 20 teams each in the men's and women's section? Or that flag football, the non-contact version of American football, had a full-fledged league in India until a few years ago?

“Our federation has been around since 2009, and we have more than 30,000 athletes registered with us. We have conducted our Nationals for men and women almost every year,” said Sandeep Chaudhari, CEO of American Football Federation of India (AFFI). AFFI is a member of International Federation of American Football, which was granted full recognition by the IOC last month.

Maharashtra and Delhi, incidentally, were champions of the 2022 senior baseball Nationals. Traces of the Amateur Baseball Federation of India (ABFI) go further back — it was founded in 1983 while its first national championship was held in 1985 — and the body, recognised by the sports ministry and awaiting recognition from the Indian Olympic Association, currently has 26 affiliated state units.

“We have sub-junior, junior and senior events across state levels. Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab and Goa are among the active states in baseball,” said MN Krishnamurthy, president of ABFI.

Lacrosse, the hockey-like game played with a long-handled stick and ball with its origins in North America, is fairly nascent in its growth in India. Himanshu Sinha, joint-secretary of Lacrosse Association of India (LAI), said developmental activities like workshops and awareness programmes gathered pace only after 2018, until the pandemic pulled it back. Last year, a national coaching workshop was held in Agra with the support of World Lacrosse, the sport's global governing body.

Long way to go globally

In terms of India’s standing in these sports internationally, even the qualification path to the Olympic level seems a long way away at present. The closest, going strictly by world rankings, is the Indian women's baseball team, which is ranked 15th in the world. The men are at 68th spot. Under the same world governing body of World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), India's softball teams are ranked 26th (men) and 54th (women). According to the 2022 world rankings, the latest on the IFAF website, India's men's flag football team is ranked 20th.

The lacrosse association is hoping to send a team for the Asia Cup next year, and also hold a domestic championship. “Right now, Indian lacrosse is in a developing phase,” Sinha said.

“We have almost 30 states playing the sport, and more than 10,500 players registered," said Pravin Anaokar, CEO of Softball Association of India. “We’ve also started age-group U-10, U-12 competitions apart from holding coaching clinics at the grassroots level. We're trying our best to develop the talent and to also get our teams up to that world level. But there are multiple challenges.”

Challenges aplenty

Among the foremost of them in a long list is infrastructure. Budget comes next in order, with the general lack of visibility of these sports a telling factor in attracting sponsors (those affiliated to the ministry do get government grants, but they are hardly enough, say officials).

Equipment for lacrosse (protective gear, stick, etc.) can be expensive, and all of it has to be imported. “Logistics is a big hurdle. We’re trying to figure out if we can get the equipment in India itself," Sinha said. “It is quite challenging, because right now lacrosse can't be played by the masses.”

Flag football, which also has its roots firmly in the US, is gradually expanding its presence in India thanks to the helping hand from some non-resident Indians there.

“A few guys from the US who are NRIs have been supporting us. We also have a good relationship with the international body," AFFI CEO Chaudhari said. "We hope that the Olympics tags too helps us approach things better now and will be a booster for us.”

The baseball federation president hopes the Olympics tag can give them access to facilities, and unlock some space for sports like theirs in the various Sports Authority of India (SAI) centres across the country.

“With real difficulty we mobilise small sponsors. Right now, people who are playing baseball are those who have the money to," Krishnamurthy said. “The government has to give us whole-hearted support, especially in terms of infrastructure. Baseball can be inculcated in SAI centres across India.

“It needs a total outlook change," he added. “If we're planning for 2028, we have to start now.”