Tokyo Olympics effect – 71% parents ready to support their child to pursue non-cricket sports: Survey

New Delhi: India’s best-ever Olympics medal haul at the recently concluded Tokyo Games has had an impact on Indian parents, according to a survey.

At the Tokyo Olympics in Japan, India won seven medals including 1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze. Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won India’s first-ever gold in track and field at the Olympics.

LocalCircles conducted a survey to find out how closely did Indian families track the Olympics this year.

It also sought to understand that given India’s performance and the rise of India’s sports celebrities, have Indian parents become more supportive if a child or a grandchild in their family was interested in taking up a sport outside of cricket as their career?

The survey received feedback from close to 18,000 respondents residing in 309 districts of India. 66% of the participants were men while 34% were women. 42% of respondents were from tier 1 districts, 29% from tier 2 and 29% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts.

The question in the survey asked people if they or someone in the family watch or closely track India’s games in Tokyo Olympics. In response, 51% of citizens surveyed said “yes” they followed India’s performance closely in the Tokyo Olympics. 47% of Indians said they did not, while 2% did not have an opinion. This question in the survey received 9,256 responses.

This seems to be a significant increase in comparison to 2016 where a similar LocalCircles survey had indicated that less than 20% of Indians were tracking India’s performance in Olympics. Citizens via LocalCircles in 2016 had demanded a major overhaul of sports in India highlighting that all sporting bodies must have a sportsperson at the helm instead of a bureaucrat or a politician. A rise to 51% indicates that many more Indians tracked Tokyo Olympics closely. It is also worth noting that on the day of the Women’s Hockey match at the Olympics, India and England cricket test match was being played but most eyeballs were glued to the Women’s Hockey semi-final match.

The next question in the survey asked Indian parents that if a child or a grandchild in their family is interested in a sport outside of cricket, would they want them to take that up as a career. In response, the majority of 71% of Indian parents surveyed said “yes” they would support such a career plan of a child or grandchild in their family. There were also 19% of Indian parents who said they won’t support their child taking sports as their career. 10% did not have an opinion. This question in the survey received 8,348 responses.

“Once again this is a drastic rise from the survey result in 2016 where approximately 40% of parents had said that they would support their child taking up a sporting career outside of cricket,” LocalCircles said.

“In summary, the Tokyo Olympics has marked a step-change in the level of interest Indians take in non-cricket sports. With 51% of Indian families having 1 or more individuals watching or tracking Tokyo Olympics 2021 and 71% of Indian parents saying that if a child in their family was interested in a sport outside cricket, they would support them in taking it as a career is a big thumbs up,” it added.

The survey received feedback from close to 18,000 respondents residing in 309 districts of India. 66% of the participants were men while 34% were women. 42% of respondents were from tier 1 districts, 29% from tier 2 and 29% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.