India’s new genre sports educators

A new genre of highly qualified education entrepreneurs are combining sports evangelism with enlightened capitalism, and are pulling out all stops to sell the concept of professionally delivered sports and fitness training to the country’s 1.30 million, particularly 80,000 private schools. Summiya Yasmeen reports Although dressed up as India’s best ever Olympic games performance by frenzied media and a discredited government, in terms of medals tally (two silver and four bronze), this 1.2 billion strong nation ended up ingloriously at the bottom of the international league table not only below the US (104 including 46 gold) and China (88 and 38), South Korea (pop. 49 million, 28 and 13), but also below Jamaica (pop. 2 million, 12 and 4), Kenya (pop. 41 million, 11 and 2) and Ethiopia (pop. 84 million, 7 and 3). But even as the usual excuses — lack of funding and qualified coaches, dismal sports training infrastructure and the stranglehold of politicians over sports associations — were ritually trotted out simultaneously with over-the-top celebrations, the silver lining of the contretemps is the emergence of a national consensus that sports education and training has to be formally integrated into and dispensed in all of the country’s 1.30 million primary-secondary schools, 31,000 colleges and 611 universities. Perhaps for the first time, there is unanimity within the academic and educators’ community that a national sports culture and ecosystem which will produce world champions, has to be incorporated into the education system. Fortuitously, this newly-emergent consensus in India coincides with the promotion and development of sports education companies with serious intent to target and sign up a growing number of schools. In the prevailing environment in which physical education dispensed in schools is obsolete and half-hearted, a new genre of sports education entrepreneurs are combining sports evangelism with enlightened capitalism, and are pulling out all stops to sell the concept of professionally delivered sports training to the country’s 1.30 million schools, starting with 80,000 private schools. According to industry estimates, over ten sports education companies are currently delivering training to 260,000 students in 440 schools countrywide and are growing at 75 percent per year. “Though physical education is an integral part of the curriculum of every school, it’s not given the priority it deserves nor is it delivered professionally. Most children dread joyless PE classes conducted by inadequately trained sports teachers. School sports curriculums are outdated, age inappropriate and non-inclusive. Schools need the help of qualified professionals to infuse their sports education programmes with well-researched curriculums, joy and fun. If we get children in all schools to play regularly and improve their physical fitness, India will have a larger talent pool and our chances of international sporting success will improve dramatically. This is the best — though long route — solution for building a sports ecosystem which will generate Olympic medal winners,” says Saumil Majmudar, an alumnus of IIT-Bombay and IIM-Bangalore, and co-founder and chief executive of the Bangalore-based Edusports Pvt. Ltd, a pioneer sports education company which delivers sports services…