Try to Accept Failures as They Make You More Strong - Tanvi Thapliyal



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1. Tell us about your background and journey.

My name is Tanvi Thapliyal, I am from Delhi. My age is 23 and I am pursuing  my advance graduation (B. P. ED)(BACHELOR  OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION) from Panjab UniversityI am Senior National Netball player as well as National Basketball Player. I started my career in basketball at my school level, it started when I was in 6th standard. I was hardly 12 or 13 year old.

It all started from my school basketball court. I use to see all the girls playing basketball and that motivated me and after that I went to the court and asked my coach that what are the formalities for playing basketball and after that I joined the basketball coaching in my school and I was the one who represented the school team only by practising one year.

As I am not tall enough, I am just 5 feet which is the greatest barrier I faced in the field of my game. Because of short height many times I faced failure but I never looked back I just focused and achieved what I wanted. Everything  was perfectly  fine. As I was getting full support from my family and my coach.

I played my first  national when I was in grade 8. Then I played 3 nationals back to back. I also represented Delhi University. Recently I played senior national from Chandigarh in netball and All India Inter University from Chandigarh. I also coached a school team for 3 years in Delhi. It’s just because of the love towards my game.

In this field of journey I faced many failure, many achievements,many rewards, my experiences, many lessons and that is the best part about my journey.

2. How did you decide to make your passion your career? Was your family supportive?

From the very beginning, I was so much into games, which made me clear to take my passion as my career. Many people told me not to opt this as my career because of my height but when it comes to the game I can’t say no. I am so much into game that I can’t even resist. My relatives were against this but I am having very supportive family they were with me every time and they are the one who are supporting me today also.

Yes, of course my family is the one who was supporting me every time and they are still supporting me. They never said no regarding making my passion as my career.

3. Who is your favourite player and what have you learnt from him/her?

I love each and every player who is playing and giving his/her time in their field but apart from that late Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Lebron James  are my favourite one  as they taught me to never give up on the thing you love the most. And they taught me how to deal with the things off the court and on the court.

I just love the way they play, they talk and everything. They always influenced me to challenge myself everyday. To make changes everyday and the best thing they taught is that “Its not about winning every time, its all about giving your 100% in the game or in everything." Once you put your 100% you will definitely get success.

4. What is the level of commitment and time required to make a sport a career?

The first thing one should put in sports is time. The more the time, the more will be the progress. There are some level of commitments you should do to achieve your goal, firstly you only have to commit to yourself not to anyone else. Focus on the process more than the result. Try to accept failures as they make you more strong and capable enough to achieve your goal.

One should know his/her strength and weakness, once you know your weakness there is no one who can defeat you. One should be very careful about the food they eat, the sleep pattern they follow because they are one of the greatest factor which uplifts the sports persons performance.And it's all up to the hard work and time you put in the field.

You should be very dedicated towards the goal you want in your upcoming time. And you should show loyalty towards your game and towards you too. Once you put your everything, you will achieve the goal as soon as possible. “The goal is not win the, goal is to prepare yourself and then win.”


5. How can we encourage more youngsters to take up sports as a full time profession?

As we know most of the youngsters are not aware about this field. The first thing we have to do is, spreading awareness. Their should be proper councillors for this particular field, if child is facing any problem they can contact. Rather than putting child into sports by their family's choice, the child should be asked about the sport that interests them.

The positive environment should be created so that child would be comfortable to perform. Opening of more institutions for this field as there are less institutions which is one of the barrier faced to encourage youngsters.

6. Which is your favourite book and why?

The book I love the most is "How I Play" by Kobe Bryant. This book is having great arrangements in words and I am super connected to this man Kobe Bryant this book describes his whole journey, how he started playing basketball and the main thing is he always taught to never give up. This is the first book from the basketball superstar Kobe Bryant.

In this Bryant told how he studied an opponent, how he channelled his passion for the game, how he played through injuries. He also gave  detailed information about his breaks down specific plays and match-ups from throughout his career. One can be definitely influenced by his journey. And he taught always said never give excuses, and to be yourself and to challenge oneself everyday.

He is no more in this world, but he is still alive with the basketball fans he have. People come and go, but legends stays forever. And he is the legend.

Interview By - Sonam