We often see a common scenario, from the remote areas of our country to the international level. The picture is almost the same everywhere.
Let me explain.
Imagine a football match. Our striker is inside the opponent’s penalty box. He skillfully dribbles past a defender and is just about to take a shot at goal. If he takes that shot properly, it is a goal.
But at that very moment, he misses the target. Maybe his foot timing is wrong, or he takes a weak shot. Some of us feel disappointed, some criticize him, and some think there will be another opportunity.
But even when another opportunity comes, the same thing keeps happening again and again.
This is a normal scenario for us. The tournaments organized by FIFA are proof of that. From age-group teams to the senior national team, we have the same situation and almost the same results.
More or less, the same thing happens in other sports as well. Once in a while, we might win a medal at some international event, but even that is akin to a miracle.
We have no Olympic medals. We have no significant position in international football. Although cricket has progressed, we still have not won a major international tournament trophy.
No matter how much we make sports compulsory at the primary, secondary, and college levels, we still do not know what we actually need to do.
Have you ever thought about what happens after that dribble past the defender? What is the level of your physical strength at that moment? How much stamina do you have left? What is your mental state when you are about to take that exact shot?
Can your brain think properly under high-intensity conditions? Are your muscles able to support the skills you have learned, and is your brain providing the right support to execute those skills? What is your work capacity?
We don’t know these things. We really don’t.
Let me give you another example.
You are a 100-metre sprinter. Your coach tells you that your start is not good enough and tries to improve it. He keeps teaching you and correcting your technique again and again. That’s good. But why is your start not good in the first place?
Is there a problem with your gait? Did you once suffer an ankle sprain that you never fully recovered from?
Even if you did recover, do you know how to return to training, what level of capacity you should return with, or how long you can sustain that capacity?
You don’t know.
Meanwhile, you keep trying to fix your poor start without understanding the actual reason behind it.
Athletes in developed countries do not win medals for no reason. They win because of the process behind their performance. They win because of the preparation that goes into winning.
They do not win medals simply because they start a race and run all the way to the finish line. They win because of the entire process, from the very first footstep at the beginning of their sporting journey to the moment they finally stand on the champions’ podium.
They win because of science. Sports science.
In Bangladesh, Sports science is still a profession that many people hesitate to openly identify as their occupation when someone asks them what they do for a living.
I am waiting for that day when a 14- or 15-year-old boy who dreams of representing his country will not simply be pushed into a sport without proper evaluation.
Instead, before his body is introduced to the demands of that sport, he will undergo a proper assessment, and science will be integrated into his physical and mental development according to a structured process.
But for this to happen, we need more than just coaches.
When it comes to the development of sports in our country, appointing district coaches and assistant coaches is not where the responsibility ends. A coach alone cannot address every aspect of an athlete’s development. We need a proper support system built around our athletes.
Appoint sports scientists in every district. Appoint sports psychologists. Appoint qualified trainers and strength and conditioning professionals. Build a system where coaches, sports scientists, psychologists, and trainers work together to evaluate athletes, monitor their progress, prevent injuries, support rehabilitation, and improve performance through a scientific approach.
If we continue to ignore these essential aspects of athlete development, our sports will remain at the bottom and may sink even further.
We cannot expect different results while continuing to follow the same approach. We cannot keep expecting miracles and call them a development strategy.
Results and medals do not come in a single day. They require time, planning, evaluation, professional expertise, and a scientific approach.
Some of us have been raising our voices for so long, yet the reality remains almost the same. How much longer do we have to keep shouting before someone from the authorities finally listens?
How much longer must we wait before sports in Bangladesh are treated as a science, a profession, and a system that deserves proper investment?
Miftab Uddin is a sports teacher at Scholastica school.
