From: www.sukulgunda.com (Please use ToR or Worldlink for Nepal Access, seems like half-ban on this website)
Queen Sunmaya
Once in a blue moon, we get to hear good news about our Nepalis doing great wonders around the world. Well, here back at home, it's either Harkey Dai ranting on Social Media on why he would be a good PM or the grand old comrades like Oli and Prachanda working overtime to save this country from ruin!
A few days ago, our Sunmaya Budha made headlines across the globe for not only surviving the bone-crushing 120 km Lavaredo Ultra Trail race in Italy, but she also broke the record that had stood for more than a decade. She finished first in 13 hours and 33 minutes, conquering 5,800 meters of vertical elevation. She is one of the world-class elite runners in the world, and most of us don't even care or bother to understand the hard work either.
Then she came back home, and no crowd to cheer her at the TIA. One of the greatest trail runners on the planet was greeted by her manager Preeti Khatri, and a lonely banner and a handful of well-wishers. Sunmaya is not bothered because she knows that our National Sports Council has no clue that Trail running is a big sporting event worldwide.
We cannot only blame our government for the lack of respect, support and guidance for our athletes. Our old school netas and their jholeys and the officials at our sporting bodies have all looted the funds and left nothing for the actual development of sports in this country.
We look at our corporate sponsors, who are happy to dump tens of lakhs of Rupees on women celebrities to climb Everest for their own brands, but turn a blind eye to women athletes who make us all proud of winning races abroad. It seems that our billionaire byaparis are blind to the achievements of our athletes.
True champions like Sunmaya are forced to reach out to everyone for sponsorships to participate in global events. They have to worry about their training diets, training gear, and hustle to survive in Kathmandu. It seems that if your sport doesn't come with a viral hashtag, then corporate Nepal doesn't even know that you exist.
The National Sports Council has some guidelines on cash rewards for our athletes but our world-conquering trail runners do not figure in their list, maybe. I think it's time our government increases the sports budget by four to at least US$ 100 million a year (Rs 1,500 crore). That's not even 1% of our total annual budget. Let us bypass the corrupt gatekeepers of our sporting bodies and invest directly in at least 1,000 of our young talents across every sport, be it trail running, football, cricket, basketball, volleyball, chess, or tennis, or even snooker.
I think we need to pay the thousand young ones at least a basic monthly stipend of Rs 25,000 to ensure that they don't starve. That's like Rs 30 crore a year, less than 10% of what we spend on our provincial assembly Chief Ministers, ministers, and lawmakers in the provinces!
And we can use the remaining funds of Rs 1,470 crores to construct better sports infrastructure, athlete hostels, provide free meal plans, and training gear, materials, and resources. Just imagine our young ones from the mountains of Jumla to the plains of Jhapa training under professional coaches, physiotherapists, and sports analysts.
Sunmaya is fighting not only for sponsors but also to keep the fire burning so that the next generation of Nepali athletes will not have to return home to total silence. It’s time to stop cheering for influencers climbing Everest and start investing in our young athletes so they can become world champions someday!
** You can visit Sunmayas FB page. https://www.facebook.com/sunmaya.budha.nepal/
Send her your best wishes and if you have it then help sponsor her and maybe provide some financial cushion as she goes around conquering the trail races around the world.
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