[URBAN BEAT]
Role models for Turkey’s sports culture

Some injuries are inevitable, but the number of injuries among Turkey's internationally proven champions suggests a systemic problem. If this is true, changes in management and funding can help prevent similar "nightmares," "fiascos" and "broken dreams" in the future.

The deeper problem, however, is that Turkey's "sports culture" is thin and Turkish amateur athletes work in isolation from society. Because so few people in Turkey engage in regular physical activity, few can identify with the rigors that national athletes endure. Additionally, the media provide little insight into these athletes' dedication and sacrifice in the years and months leading up to the Olympic Games.

In order to redress these deeper, cultural reins on Turkey's international athletic competitiveness, Turkey would do well to develop a robust sports culture comprising all segments of the population. It's a long-term strategy and more sustainable and less risky than a mid-term investment to boost the number of Turkish medals in 2012.

By "sports culture" I mean a society in which a broad cross-section of the population actively and regularly engages in some kind of sport or physical exercise. "Culture" implies nurturing, and a society with a "culture of sports" takes steps to instruct its young in athletic activity, to familiarize them with a variety of sports and to instill in them a habit of doing sports.

Familiarity with the fundamentals of athleticism -- running, jumping and throwing -- combined with the habit of physical activity amounts to what might be called "athletic competence." If a society wants a sizeable elite class of athletes distinguished by excellence in international competition, it must have a much broader pool of children and youth who are "athletically competent." It takes a bunch of "losers" to produce a champion.

By providing physical education to all students, schools play a vital role in nurturing any country's sports culture, but the role of parents is probably more important. Children love imitating grown-ups. If parents read, their children become avid, skillful readers. It's the same with sports. If Turkey wants a good crop of young athletes, parents involved in physical activity -- walking, swimming or playing basketball, soccer, volleyball, etc. -- are the best role models.

A national "sports policy" should target the entire population -- both to encourage children to get into sports and to provide every citizen the chance to identify personally with national athletes. A serious, government-led physical fitness campaign would, in all likelihood, increase excitement in advance of the 2012 Games, and excitement among fans obviously makes a difference to athletes in fierce competition.

A high-level description of a national policy to enhance Turkey's sports culture is fairly simple:

1. Start, for example, with a succinct message, say, "Sports: for mind, body and soul -- and for fun."

2. Target the message at distinct segments of the population: rural and urban, individuals and families, male and female, young and old.

3. Enlist grandparents and other VIPs (celebrities from cinema, music, sports, business and politics) to deliver the message -- their passion for doing sports.

4. Distribute the message through diverse channels (schools, mosques, media advertising, news stories, television serials and movies).

5. Led by the prime minister, the sports policy would coordinate efforts among the Health Ministry, Education Ministry, General Directorate of Youth and Sports, major municipalities, the business community, sports clubs and religious establishments.

The simplicity of the outline belies the complexity and expense involved in coordinating diverse offices and interests to articulate and implement a sports policy. Developing a sports culture requires long-term planning and investment, and the major rewards will emerge over generations. There will always be the risk of ups and downs.

However, if Turkey's national leaders act promptly to promote sports and physical exercise among the population at large, it could send a powerful psychological signal of support to Turkish athletes currently looking ahead to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. With increased public involvement in sports, Turkey's national athletes would see themselves as role modes at the top of a national wave of interest in physical fitness and athletic excellence.

The psychological element -- mood and attitude -- can make all the difference, especially in competition among highly skilled, sophisticated athletes. It is vital for any athlete, at any level of ability, to tap into that deep, internal sense of power and energy. A collective effort, a nation united for the sake of sports, can make a difference.

This moment of defeat is a valuable signal, a crisis when everyone easily agrees that a major effort is justified. Russia's success in the 1968 Rome Olympics spurred the US to cultivate its own athletic competitiveness and the 2008 Beijing Olympics are a golden opportunity for Turkish leaders -- in business, sports, education, healthcare and government -- to devise a strategy for nurturing Turkey's sports culture. Ideally, the impetus for change will come from role model and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.