Indian Sports

A few times, I have posted about an athlete of Indian descent making a breakthrough in sports (like 17 year old Arjun Nimmala who was just drafted as a promising prospect to the American baseball league MLB). But sometimes when I post about athletes of Indian descent, there will be people in the comments section saying that these news are irrelevant for the sub.

Now, rule number 1 on the sub states: "Only post content related to Indian sports teams, Indian athletes or any sports/athletic activities within or involving India."

Since the rules do not define an Indian athlete, I am here to ask whether athletes of Indian descent can be considered Indians as well?

I would like to argue that representing the Indian community goes beyond having an Indian passport. The athletes of Indian descent, like Arjun Nimmala, more often than not say they feel that they represent India by being among the first of Indian descent to break through in different types of sports.

I am however aware that there is a big difference between growing up in and outside of India in terms of sports. I will therefore also admit that it is a bigger deal for the Indian sports world, when an Indian citizen makes a breakthrough in sports, since India can fully take the credit. Therefore, I am not planning on turning this into a sub, where news about athletes of Indian descent become the dominiating narrative.

I do however also believe that we need to support the athletes of Indian descent, since their breakthroughs in certain sports (like basketball, soccer and baseball) probably will come faster than for Indian citizens - due to athletes of Indian descent growing up in countries with better opportunities and training in these sports. In this way, they will show other young Indians, with or without a passport, that they can too make it to the next level in sports.

EDIT: I just want to emphasize what I mean in the last part about inspiring other athletes. I strongly believe that the heritage of athletes with Indian descent will matter a lot, also for Indian citizens. I believe kids from India who follow certain sports will feel way more encouraged to train hard if they see athletes, who look like them, perform well in the given sport. That of course goes the other way around as well. When Indian citizen Satnam Singh played in the NBA G League, he inspired the promising basketball player of Indian descent, Ryan Agarwal, to train hard. Agarwal is now playing college basketball on the highest level in the USA.