What inspired you and Vishwas Choksi to start Sports For All? How did your background as a national-level swimmer influence this vision?
Vishwas and I are driven by our passion for sports and a vision for its broader impact in India. We saw an opportunity to enhance grassroots sports as the exciting professional leagues also picked up. We realised that the medals today come from the grassroots of yesterday and if we could impact the grassroots today, we could enable the medals tomorrow. My national-level swimming experience highlighted the benefits of structured support, shaping our approach to nurture a robust sports culture aimed at creating future champions and enriching the overall sports ecosystem.
SFA has grown rapidly since its inception in 2015. What do you see as the key factors behind its success, and how have you managed to scale it across multiple cities?
We want to provide every child in India an opportunity and access to sports and the ecosystem of India. The key to our success has been our unwavering focus on making children fall in love with sports. Our rapid growth is because we made technology the backbone of our operations, but we바카라re also seeing a cultural shift towards broader sports participation in India. People are starting to embrace sports beyond just a select few. For example, look at the Olympics바카라viewership has significantly increased in Paris compared to Tokyo. This growing interest is the culture we aim to create and nurture.
You mentioned that SFA focuses heavily on technology and data analytics in school sports. Can you elaborate on how these technologies enhance the experience for young athletes?
Technology is the heartbeat of SFA. We바카라ve built our operations around our technology. We have our own Games Management System, an AI-powered match video setup, talent identification software and a tech-enabled fitness assessment test. Technology is seamlessly integrated, so athletes can do everything online바카라from registering to checking their fitness for a sport. They only need to come to the ground to actually play. Our ultimate goal is to create a platform that bridges the gap between athletes and the broader sports ecosystem, making their journey as smooth as possible. While we speak, the registrations for SFA Championships are now open on SFAPlay.com.
SFA organises championships that are larger than the Olympics in terms of participation. How do you manage the logistics and ensure the quality of these large-scale events?
At SFA, Athletes are at the core of everything we do and we want as many athletes to have access and opportunity. Our systems are designed to handle the nuances of 31 different sports, all while keeping the athlete바카라s experience at the forefront. The logistics and quality on the ground have become second nature to us, thanks to our tech-driven approach.
In what ways do SFA바카라s efforts contribute to the larger ecosystem of Indian sports, especially in terms of preparing young athletes for events like the Khelo India Games and the National Games?
Our contribution to the Indian sports ecosystem is more holistic. We support coaches who develop champions, encourage parents who nurture future athletes, collaborate with academies that identify and train talent, and work closely with federations, schools, and sports governing bodies. We also engage with the best sports officials, tech experts, and advocates, all with the athlete at the centre of our efforts. A recent statistic that stands out is that 31 SFA athletes participated in the Khelo India Youth Games and the National Games. But beyond that, we also had an athlete called Esha Singh who participated at the SFA Championships in 2017 and represented India at the Paris Olympics. This solidifies our focus on creating a pathway for athletes to pursue sports as a professional career. More on this will be coming soon!
SFA emphasises creating an inclusive and diverse platform for young athletes. Can you share specific strategies you use to ensure inclusivity across regions and socio-economic backgrounds?
Inclusivity is our mission, as reflected in our name, Sports For All. Our 바카라She is Gold바카라 initiative has boosted female participation to 31%, and we are committed to achieving a 50-50 gender balance. To ensure socio-economic inclusivity, we reserve a portion of our registrations for government schools, guaranteeing that athletes from all backgrounds can compete. On our fields, it doesn바카라t matter where an athlete comes from because sport itself is a powerful equaliser.
As someone deeply involved in the integration of sports and education, how do you see the role of sports evolving within Indian schools in the next decade?
The need of the hour is a mindset shift and we are confident that this shift is on the horizon. With the full implementation of the New Education Policy, we바카라re already anticipating an equal importance of sports and academics and we are also seeing trends that suggest the same. SFA aims to be at the forefront of this change and lead the way.
Looking to the future, what are your long-term goals for SFA, and how do you envision it transforming the sports landscape in India?
Our long-term goal at SFA remains the same: to make the youth of India fall in love with sports. With such a young and energetic population that바카라s also digital-first, we want to help channel that energy into sports and build a sports culture from the ground up. Our vision is to be the driving force that brings India to sporting glory so that in a decade or two, we바카라re competing for a spot in the top 10 of the Olympic medal tally.
