Golfer Shiva Ram Shrestha and weightlifter Tara Devi Pun claimed the top spots as the Male Player of the Year and Female Player of the Year respectively in what is perhaps the only event of its kind that honors Nepali athletes who, despite state negligence and little social motivation or perks, keep their pulse on the go.[break]
The Week’s Nistha Rayamajhi met with Shrestha and Pun the day after they were honored with the titles. Excerpts:
What does this award mean to you?
Shrestha: Athletes like me work hard throughout the year, so awards like this prove that the hard work has really paid off. As my house is near the Royal Nepal Golf Club in Sinamangal, I was exposed to the game since an early age. I even worked as a caddie as a child at the Club and back then I always used to imagine myself in the position of a golfer. Initially, when I got to play on the field, I did so to spend time but when I took part in the caddie tournament which is held every year and won that, it served as an encouragement for me and was the main turning point in my life. I had always dreamt of becoming an outstanding golf player since my childhood, and finally my passion turned into a profession. With the support of people like Tashi Ghale, who taught me a lot about golf, I got to train abroad as well. After winning that tournament, I felt I had to work hard and have a responsibility to prove myself and earn a name for my country in the international pageants as well.[break]
Pun: I felt ecstatic when my name was announced as the winner. With that I feel that I have more responsibilities to fulfill and there’s also the motivation to do something. I was more into volleyball since my schooldays and was a professional since 1997 when I took part in the National Games. But though I was initially training for volleyball in Kathmandu, I somehow was fascinated by the idea of weightlifting, too. I knew that weightlifting was not easy as it required a lot of strength. But since 2003, I started training to become a professional weightlifter and there’s been no looking back ever since. I feel that my hard work has finally been honored.
Players of the year: Top-notch golfer of the country, Shrestha is a Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) professional. He was nominated for his exceptional performance last year when he won seven of the 11 tournaments held under the Surya Nepal banner in the 2011-2012 season. His achievements made him the highest earning Nepali athlete. | A Nepal Police Club athlete, Pun made headlines in the Sixth National Games, setting a national record in the 69 kg category. She repeated her performance in the South Asian Weightlifting Championship by winning the gold medal.(Photo: Bikash Karki)
What are the major challenges to live the life of an athlete in Nepal? How do you overcome them?
Shrestha: There are lots of difficulties you face as an athlete in a developing country like ours. We don’t have many facilities here which I clearly felt when I was out of the country for trainings in Delhi, Thailand, and the USA. Another thing is that athletes usually get less support as many people have wrong notions that it’s not a secure field where you can have a future. In my case, I was quite lucky as I got support from the right people and got encouragement from my family as well. But for normal struggling athletes, lack of proper trainings can act as a huge hindrance to progress and sustain themselves. I feel that if we have support, then it’ll be easier to overcome challenges. The only way that you can deal with such challenges is to be headstrong about your passion, work hard and not let anything hinder your journey.
Pun: In a country like ours, it’s hard to earn our livelihood by just being a professional athlete. Since I’m associated with Nepal Police Club, I get a lot of support. But it may not be the same for other athletes. We’re way behind in the field of sports as compared to the developed countries and we have so much to achieve to get to that level. Though the concept of trainings may be the same, we can’t even compare the facilities of ours with those of other countries. But we’re persistent in our efforts. On the field, we have always given our best and tried solving any kind of obstacles that come our way. We’ve got full support from our coach and I think that’s how we’ve come this far.
What’s the future that you see for yourself when you retire as an athlete?
Shrestha: When I’m out on the field, I feel most relaxed and nothing beats the feeling when you nail the best strike. Golf is a way of life for me and I don’t intend to give up the sport as long as I’m able to play. But when the time comes, I’ll have to retire. Even after retirement, I want to be associated with the game which is why I plan to work as a coach. I want to train myself as an excellent coach so that I can pass my skills and ideas to the upcoming golfers. Like I said, there aren’t many facilities in the country. So I also want to contribute something to this sector in any way I can.
Pun: It’s not possible to lift weight forever and I know this will last for just a few more years. I also have to give time to my work as a Police constable as well. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t be contributing to the field. I’ll be teaching what I’ve learnt in the field to the upcoming weightlifters as well and encourage more people to get into this field. I feel that we’re on par as any other sports. But I think that more priority should be given to popular sports and sports like weightlifting is usually overlooked. So I want to do something to change that notion as well.
As an athlete, what do you think is wrong in your sector and what remedies would you suggest?
Shrestha: We don’t have enough proper golf courses which are up to the standard in the country. Apart from the few numbers of golf courses, it’s sad that we also don’t have good driving ranges. I feel that if we had such facilities, then it would work as an encouragement for golfers to work more. Such facilities would also produce more number of players who would want to do something in this sector. For that, I think the sponsors and the government should fix a proper budget to open up standard golf courses in the country. We also need more trained coaches.
Pun: The criteria for the number of players in each club for weightlifting are seven but we have only five players in our club. People usually find weighlifting to be a daunting sport as it’s quite different from any other sports. This is why many people hesitate to join this field. To change this concept, we need to spread more awareness. Besides that, I don’t think there’s anything wrong in our sector as everything has been going on smoothly. We have also been getting full support from our coach. I also believe that rather than blaming the country, athletes should put in their best in their respective fields.
What do you want to say to beginners who want to make it big in the future?
Shrestha: If you want to get into the field of sports, you need to put in a lot of time, efforts and determination. In our earlier times, there were comparatively fewer facilities for athletes. But over the years, the situation has become a lot better with more trained coaches and amenities. There are even international coaches who come to Nepal to train professional athletes. So starting athletes who really want to excel in this field should just work hard and put in their best, and the rest will follow. There’s a lot of competition going on now but they shouldn’t give up and not let anything get in their way.
Pun: If you have the determination to excel, you can make it big in the field of sports. People think that there’s not much to achieve in this field but I want the upcoming athletes not to get influenced by this wrong idea. They say there’s not much money in this field but not everything can be compared with money. What counts is the satisfaction you get at the end of the day by following your passion. Even in my case, if I had thought that being a woman I wouldn’t do well in a sport that requires so much physical strength, I wouldn’t have been in this position. More than anything, you just need to have confidence in yourself. If you have that, everyone will be there to support you and gradually you’ll get there.
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