For most Indian sportspersons, playing the sport isn’t an end in itself. Maybe for those who inhabit the cash-rich universe of cricket and for a select few sports, it is, but not for the rest. The love for the game might have helped them in their initiation, but the returns are so meagre that it is barely sustainable. In the absence of a professional set-up, job opportunities are what most crave for in the long run.
This has been the case with Swetha Sandeep, a Karnataka women’s volleyball player. Once part of the national team, she is back after a three-year hiatus. “I got back to playing a month ago when I joined the State camp for the senior nationals. I had stopped playing in 2011. Now I have an eight-month-old baby. I had to make a comeback because I have not landed any job,” she says. For Swetha, life has come full circle. She played in the Indian youth teams in 2007 and 2008, the junior teams in 2010 and 2011 and made a solitary appearance for the senior national team. Even while she played at the highest levels, a job opportunity eluded her. Three years on, the situation remains unchanged. “Job opportunities are very few,” says the 28-year-old. “Many players are stuck at at home.”
The lack of opportunities has forced her to balance motherhood and her playing career. “The comeback was not easy,” she says. “Especially, so soon after delivery. My knees and ankle would hurt a lot while training. I practiced four hours in the morning and would look after the baby. I hardly got time to sleep.” However, she has not been short of encouragement. Her father Nagaraj, himself a volleyball player for the Reserve Bank of India, husband Sandeep, a software engineer, and mother Shivamma have been pillars of support. “I thank my parents a lot for their support. They are always there to look after my daughter. My father would be present during most of my matches. My husband Sandeep has also given me strength to carry on.”
