Gone are the days when sports were not considered as a main stream career option in India. People (especially parents) were very apprehensive regarding this and not encouraging when kids wanted to be in this field.
But with time everything changes and so has the mentality of the parents. Today, we find parents embracing the change and encouraging their kids regardless of them now wanting to or not wanting to be a part of it.
What are the reasons for sudden change in mindset among the people? What is the scope of Sports as a career in India shall be discussed in this article.
Reasons for Sudden Rise in Sports as a Career:
- Awareness:
Yes, awareness of sports is one of the reasons on why there is sudden rise in sports career. Not that there wasn’t much awareness before, it’s just that few factors have acted as catalyst in changing the mindset of the people.
Movies:
A country where movies, films are considered larger than life has always had a huge impact on the lives of people. Movies like Chak de India, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Dangal, etc have brought significant changes among the people of the country. They’ve encouraged people to a great extent and made them realize necessity of sports in life, how it is a great career option and of course good in terms of monetary basis as well.
Women:
India previously was a country which did not encourage women to step out their households let alone be work. And indeed sports career was a just a dream for many women around the country.
But again obviously with time this too has changed. Women excelling in Cricket, Hockey, Badminton, bringing laurels to the country have made people revamp their thoughts and even allow them to purse sports as a career.
- Schools by Sportsperson:
Yes, schools started by sportsperson so as to encourage more Indians to purse sports as a career has made people make their kids join in such schools.
Some of the schools started by famous sportsperson in order to promote their respective sports are as follows:
Virender Sehwag:
Indian Cricketer Virender Sehwag started a school called Sehwag International School in Jhajjar, Harayana where he trains young children regarding the various facets of cricket. It was his father’s dreams shares the batsman on being asked the reason for the school.
If we precisely quote him, this is what he says, “My father told me, if you become a player and earn some money, open an institution where kids can study, stay and play as well.”
Pullela Gopichand:
Pullela Gopichand became the second Indian to win the All England Championships in the year 2001. He is coach of famous Badminton players Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and Parupalli Kashyap and their success credit goes to this man’s academy called Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy located in Hyderabad.
Amit Luthra:
Amit Luthra has been the caption of Indian Golf team for 20 years between the year 1980’s and 1990’s. It was the time when people did not value the game much. But this man has managed to open The Golf Foundation and brought fame to the country.
Shubham Juglan, the youngest Indian to be world golf champion at the age of just 10 years was gem refined at his academy. Having earned such amazing laurels, Luthra has definitely managed to change the thinking of people to some extent towards sports (especially Golf) and opting sports as a career.
Career Options in Sports in India:
There are a variety of career options available in Sports in India which can be started by joining a sports management company. Some of them include:
- Sponsorship
- Event Management
- Ticketing
- Sponsorship:
Sports Sponsorship is one of the amazing career options for earning whooping amounts in less time. All one has to do is be careful regarding the match they’re sponsoring. If it is a mega event, there are very less chances of getting losses and more of profits.
Even if is not a mega event, one should have an idea regarding the target reach, target audience, benefits of sponsorship, long-terms of sponsoring, etc.
- Event Management:
Event Management is a good career option in a pompous country like India. So, choosing sports event management as a career is something like icing on the cake for a sport like cricket which is next religion in India.
Once popular, there is no way of looking back and being sad at the failures. One just becomes an all-time, in-demand company overnight.
- Ticketing:
When everything is decided i.e. match, venue, sponsors, etc, there comes an important aspect for fans who want to have a live experience called as purchasing as the ticket.
Ticketing sports as a career is the final stage and the most significant one. One needs to have skills patience, ability to deal with different kinds of people, committed, etc to become a ticket salesperson.
