Most academies run by cricket stars have tie-ups with top schools
Sania Mirza runs a tennis academy in Hyderabad. (Photo: DC)
Mumbai: A masterclass from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, tips on tennis and style from Sania Mirza, dashing batsman Virender Sehwag imparting wisdom on cricket and life skills with his nonchalant humour, sprint queen P.T. Usha as a mentor, the list goes on.
For a youngster filled with ambition and hopes, this could be a distant dream, but with more and more sportspersons coming up with academies and even schools, it could well be a reality for many.
Picture this: Twelve-year-old Naresh Babu sits quietly in the reception area, a cricket bat tucked carefully under his arm as his father holds his certificates and books. It is little Naresh’s initiation to the Sehwag International School, an institute that aims to provide education and cricketing acumen to the country’s future generation.
The journey from Patna to Jhajjar is nothing short of a dream for Naresh and his father. “He kept asking me about meeting Virender Sehwagji,” says the father. The child got lucky, as the star cricketer was present on the premises and welcomed Naresh personally. He signed a bat and wished him luck. It was a journey well started.
Much like Sehwag, there are several sportspersons in the country, both current and former who have plans to start academies of their own, besides many whose ventures are already well-established.
India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the catchiest names in it all. Mahi, who already has ventured into football, hockey and motor racing, has been keen on a 12.5-acre facility at Nayatoli Simaliya, near his hometown Ranchi. Tennis star Mirza runs an academy in Hyderabad, while badminton player Jwala Gutta too has plans in the pipeline.
In a way, it serves two purposes. Besides honing youngsters, the academies also provide a way ahead for the sportspersons once they retire giving something back in terms of experience and knowledge. Not to forget the money that it can generate.
Says Mirza, “My family and I have always wanted to give India and Hyderabad a world-class coaching facility, something that I missed out on in my formative years. For years I was always asked, ‘Who after Sania?’ I decided I needed to put my best foot forward and do what I could to produce the next generation of Grand Slam players.”
One of the basic requirements, a piece of land to open their facility isn’t difficult as most athletes get them as gifts from their respective state governments.
Says Sehwag, who runs both a school and an academy, “As a kid, I used to travel by bus and my father would say, ‘you waste so much time travelling. I wish we had a place where you could stay, study and play at the same time.’
“When I achieved success as a cricketer, he asked would I now be able to provide children with such a facility.”
Sehwag turned that wish into a reality when he was gifted a plot by the then-Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and started his school in 2011.
Unlike other sport, that require artificial turf, courts and indoor facilities, like hockey, badminton, squash, boxing setting up a cricket academy is easier at least when it comes to functionality, because all you need is some reasonably level open space.
Most academies run by cricket stars, Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh besides many others have tie-ups with top schools, that allow the use of their premises on a monthly rental basis. Grounds are thus available, Ranji players are hired as coaches, and getting students to enrol isn’t tough, as most aspire to be the Gen Next of Kohlis, Dhonis and Tendulkars making it a win-win situation for all.
So are these profitable ventures?
Besides the enrolment and monthly fees from students, most academies depend on sponsors to flourish. And with bankable names like Yuvraj and Sehwag associated, the establishments are ready to pitch in, be it finances or facilities.
Says Yuvraj, “I don’t see this as business. I started this endeavour simply for the love of the game. After my battle with cancer, I wanted to begin and promote two ventures very aggressively, a charity for cancer patients and my cricket academy to give something back to the sport.
“It is difficult to break even at times, but I do not take a penny out of it. I funded the entire programme and it is all thanks to my sponsors that I am able to run it successfully.”
Adds Mirza, “The goal is to provide a platform for youngsters and try and produce some international level players. But to succeed in the long run, the academy would need to be financially viable at some point in time.”
Among the stalwarts, the Vijay Amritraj-run Britannia Amritraj Tennis Academy, that produced Leander Paes and Somdev Devvarrman among others was among the first in the country, besides the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy and the Krishnan Tennis Centre in Chennai, set up by Ramanathan Krishnan and his son Ramesh.
P.T. Usha’s school of athletics is one of the better known centres in that sport, while the Gopichand Academy is most sought after, with the likes of Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap and Jwala Gutta being the prominent proteges.
All of them though haven’t been able to turn it into profitable propositions. Five times world champion and Olympian boxer M.C. Mary Kom has often struggled with finances, and recently took the crowd-funding route in order to fuel the dreams of others.
Says former hockey midfielder Viren Rasquinha, who is involved with non-profit organisation Olympic Gold Quest that supports more than 35 current athletes in various sport, “Two of the best examples we have today in the country are the Gopichand and the Prakash Padukone academies for badminton. Their goals, level of operation, efficiency and how they raise funds is something to be learnt from. If any of these ingredients is missing, it could go all wrong.
“I think sportspersons should do what they know best. They have gone through the grind in their professional careers, and know the mistakes and requirements that could halt or enhance an athlete’s progress,” says Rasquinha.
Interestingly, even overseas stars have made inroads into the Indian territory. Former Aussie legend Dennis Lillee was involved with the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai since its inception in 1987 till countryman Glenn McGrath replaced him two years ago. While the recently-retired Aussie speedster Brett Lee is the brand ambassador of Cricket India Academy, which partners with schools to educate children.
( Source : dc )
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