Games beyond cricket: How to plan and build a career in rising sports

Indian athletes medal-winning streak is prompting young people to train for competitive events

When javelinist Neeraj Chopra won a gold medal at the Olympic games, many Indians acknowledged a sport that hardly earned headlines in the country. India’s performance at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games shows the country is looking beyond cricket and developing infrastructure for other sports. It is ripe for young people to consider sport as a career.
 
Parents introduce their young children to sports at private institutes or coaching classes at school. A student is expected to clear zonal round in school, then state (three rounds) followed by the national level and then aspire for international competitions.
 
“When I started playing cricket at the age of 10, I knew exactly what my career graph would be--there is an Under 14, an Under 16, and Under 19 and then university and eventually one would go for Ranji trophy. IPL [Indian Premier League] was not there at that time,” said Tenzing Niyogi, chief executive officer Ultimate Kho and League Commissioner.
 
Training to be a champ
 
Government-aided institutes offer training for table tennis, lawn tennis, football, basketball, volleyball and badminton. Many schools offer sports training and specialised coaching for an extra fee. The monthly fee at government-aided institutes and schools can range from Rs 1,100 to Rs 3,000 per month.
 
There are private academies devoted to a particular sport, often set up by famous Indian athletes. The Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad trained P V Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap, and Kidambi Srikanth. The Chetan Anand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad and Prakash Padukone Academy in Mumbai and Bengaluru are other famous training centres. For para athletes, badminton coach Gaurav Khanna recently set up an academy in Lucknow. (For monthly fees, please see price chart at end of story)

At Bhaichung Bhutia Football School, TATA Football Academy and Indian Tigers Football, the monthly fee is typically Rs 2,500 (for members) and Rs 3,125 (non-members). Shooting training has Gun For Glory, Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Maharashtra Rifle Association. Boxing has Bhiwani Boxing Club, Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, Crosstrain Fight Club, Mary Kom-SAI Boxing Academy. Some former Olympians and champion athletes charge just hostel fees at their training academies.

 
A brand manager of Yogeshwar Dutt Wrestling Academy said wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt and boxer Mary Kom raise money from corporates and don’t charge even a single penny from students. It’s their way of giving back to society by setting up sports academies, said the manager.
 
Era of homegrown sports
 
Indigenous sports, such as Kabaddi and Kho Kho, have their own professional leagues. “In our country cricket is a religion and everyone wants to follow that religion. When people are following this religion, somewhere it is the other sports--whether it is Kabaddi or Kho, tennis or football or badminton etc--which tend to get overshadowed,” said Punit Balan, the owner of Mumbai Khiladis (an Ultimate Kho Kho franchisee).
 
How does one become a Kho Kho player? “Technically, every game has a federation like Kho Kho Federation of India. A player who wants to take this up professionally, must go and register themselves with the federation and once they get selected for local tournaments and state tournaments, they can aim to come for leagues such as Ultimate Kho Kho,” said Balan.
 
Niyogi thought of a Kho Kho league after watching a game at Ichalkaranji, a city near Nagpur and a hub for the sport. “I saw 2 lakh people watching a four-day Kho Kho extravaganza on mud with four halogen lamps. That was the time I saw Kho Kho in its real time avatar and I was mesmerized and convinced that if this was produced on television with right camera angles as well as right stakeholders, it would be hugely successful,” said Niyogi.
 
"It’s a game with a fast-paced format where people are literally falling off their seats and it's as though they are watching an edge of the seat thriller. Kho Kho is the only run-and-chase model in the world.” Local club culture in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal shaped Kho Kho, and now it is a professionally managed and well-paying sport.

Kabaddi is the other indigenous game rising rapidly. When the Pro Kabaddi league started in 2014, few reckoned it would become so big. The GMR Group, which owns Kabaddi and Kho Kho teams, has opened the BK Kabaddi Academy in Meerut. “When the sport grows, the ecosystem along with the sports is bound to grow. Today we have the world’s best kabaddi academy in Meerut with a gym, swimming pool, one sand and one mud kabaddi facility and a running track,” said Sujoy Ganguly, business & marketing Head, GMR Sports.
 
Sportspersons have to be disciplined, fit and rigorously train for events. Ganguly shared an anecdote about kabaddi players eating habit: “It was a challenging thing for them to eat less in the beginning. We were giving them the right food, with more nutrition value for their body and muscles. We also introduced them to strength and conditioning training and a specialised group of physicians, nutritionists, experts.”
 

A professional athlete recognised nationally can have a fulfilling career. To make this dream come true, an athlete will require proper guidance, dedication, training and a disciplined lifestyle.

Sport	Leading Institutes	Ballpark Fee (Rs)
Badminton	Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy, Prakash Padukone, Chetan Anand Badminton Academy	The cost of one month of coaching ranges from Rs 3,000 to Rs 15,000
Football	Bhai Chung Bhutia Football Schools, TATA Football Academy, Indian Tigers Football	Monthly fee Rs 2,500 (Members) and Rs. 3,125 (Non-Members)
Kabaddi	BK Kabaddi Academy in Meerut, Chaudhari Ram Swarup Kabaddi Academy, Kathura Kabaddi Academy Sonipat	Some academies are offering free kabaddi coaching while the hostel costs would be around Rs 4,000 to Rs 7,500 per month
Shooting	Gun For Glory, Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Maharashtra Rifle Association	One Month Basic Foundation Course Rs 2,500 Weekend Basic Foundation Course Rs. 5,000 Annual Membership for all age group Rs. 25,000
Boxing	Bhiwani Boxing Club, Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, Crosstrain Fight Club, Mary Kom-SAI Boxing Academy	he monthly cost of a boxing class ranges from Rs 2500 to Rs 8000. Three months classes range from Rs. 4500 to Rs.10,000 Six months classes range from Rs.7,500 to Rs.18,000

Source: Market Research