RECOGNISING the growing importance of mental wellbeing in the development of young sports persons, Nagpur Cricket Academy (NCA) organised aspecial parent and coach counselling session titled ‘Winning the Child Before Winning the Match’ at Kurvey’s School Hall, on Sunday. “Aplayer’sambition and mental well-being arenot opposites. The objective is not to remove challenge from young athletes but to ensure that failure remains surviv able and performance never becomes the measure of a child’s worth,”said Dr Neeta Adhau,Sports Psychologist & Mental Strengthening Coach at Rajasthan Royals HPC. Dr Adhau also urged parents to separate performance from identity, reminding young players that runs, wickets, selection or being dropped should never determine their worth. Addressing the young players, particularly the girls present, Dr Adhau emphasised that strength should not be confused with silence. “Mental strength is not pretending youare fine. It is knowing what to do when you are not fine and knowing who youcan turnto.” The programme focused on animportantmessage for everyoneinvolved in a young cricketer’s journey—the development of a child must always come before the pursuit of results. The session addressed the need to balance expectations, performance and the mental well-being of young cricketers while creating apositive, supportive and healthy sporting environment. The context for the programme was set by Madhav Bakre, Director, Nagpur Cricket Academy who highlighted the need of the hour and the collective responsibility of parents, coaches and the cricketing fraternity in helping players deal with pressure and expectations.

 

A significant part of the session focused on what happens after abad performance.“Before asking,‘How many runs did you make?’ sometimes the most important question is simply, ‘How areyou?’” Dr Shreyas Magia, Cricket Psychiatrist addressed different but complementary aspects of mental well-being and performance in young athletes. Dr Magia brought the psychiatric perspective to the discussion,reinforcing theimportance of recognising when normal sporting set backs may be accompanied by deeper emotional or psychological difficulties.The discussion highlighted the need for parents and coaches to notice meaningful changes in ayoung person’s behaviour,mood, relationships orinterest, and to seek professional supportwhen concerns arise. The session concluded with a question for every adult involved in ayoung athlete’s journey: “When my child is struggling, do they believeI am the person they can come to?” The over arching message from the session was that young cricketers need an environment where they can dream big, compete hard, fail safely,ask for help and still know that their worth extends far beyond their performance on the cricket field. The interactive session was followed by an engaging question-and-answer session, with parents, coaches and young cricketers actively participating andseeking guidance on various aspects of performance, expectations and mental well-being. The programme witnessed the not able presence of Sharad Padhye, Sunil Mujumdar, former India international Mona Meshram, father of India player Harsh Dubey,along with several parents,coaches and young cricketers. Theprogrammewasanchored by Mohan Sambre, Coaching Head, NagpurCricket Academy, who also proposed avote of thanks.