"I want Football to Trump Cricket in India within 8 years!" Amit Saran, Founder, SPT Sports

Monday August 27, 2012 , 4 min Read

“My motivation was an article in an English daily which I came across in Delhi in 1991 about an Asian Games gold medallist wrestler selling “channa” (grams) in Chandni Chowk lanes. Something happened and then I decided to do my bit for the future of kids who love sports and wish to make a living / career of it. Initially it all started as a hobby by organising sports events for children since 1992 in Noida (near Delhi) but it was only in 1998 after moving to Bangalore that I quit my job and took sports promotion as a profession.”

On the business front, Sports is now more than just a play, it’s a rising industry. Sports management is an industry that is growing rapidly in India. The Sports Industry in India has a tremendous future. There is abundant talent floating around, all that you need to do is tap on the talent and pivot the person’s efforts towards the goal. “*Today the world laughs when I say that football will overtake cricket in the next 6-8 years but hopefully I will be there to laugh at them,”* says **Amit Saran**, Founder, SPT Sports.

Sports being a ‘sunrise industry’, it was difficult to arrange for manpower. Still, Amit went ahead with his plans and was able to set up a dedicated team. Initially he got great support from his wife, Sujata, with the administration and finance. Later his sons Kanishka and Vishvan joined him and today SPT Sports has Spanish football coaches – Oscar Bruzon and Humerto Gonzalez in Bangalore and Mumbai respectively who also take care of football development across the country. In addition they have a team for marketing and on-ground activities at all the centres in Mumbai, Noida, Assam, and Bangalore where the Head Office is located.

Sports Event Management: Organize events that help corporates translate their brand strategy into a successful, results-driven marketing, internal communication or recreation activity. Events conducted successfully are Lipton Merchants Cup (covering 10 sports), the National Kingfisher Corporate Football 5’s, JSW Half Marathon, TaylorMade Golf Skins Tournament, Weekender Swim Meets, BSA Cycle Run, CRY Cricket Tournament and many more.

Sports Academy: Privately owned state-of-the-art facility offering sports infrastructure covering Golf, Football, Cricket, Volleyball and Athletics. Complete with a 9-Hole Executive Golf Course, Club House, Café and Dining Area, the sports academy offers coaching and professional training for children and adults. With partners such as ITC Foods – Sunfeast and Adidas Golf – TaylorMade on board. This is the only 9-hole Executive Golf Course in the county and their coaches are accredited by US Golf Teachers Federation (USGTF) through the Indian Golf Teachers Federation (IGTF). With a 22-bay driving range, practice greens and bunkers, the course is rated as Par 28 and is an ideal choice for corporates seeking memberships and signups.

At the football academies, children between 5 & 15 years are being trained there under direct supervision of the two Spanish UEFA ‘A’ license holder coaches. These coaches are also involved in developing senior players / teams aspiring to play i-league.

Sports Infrastructure Development: Professional infrastructure development services to organizations planning to develop world-class sports infrastructure across various sports. Through various projects they have developed sports infrastructure for companies in Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad. Some of these facilities are at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Infosys, Golden Palms Spa, Jain International School, Bishop Cotton School, PESIT College, John Cruyff Education Center among others.

Indian Golf Teachers Federation (IGTF): IGTF is a member of the world’s largest organization of golf teaching professionals, WGTF. The aim of IGTF is to impart world class teaching techniques and certify well equipped instructors for the growing golf fraternity.

Sports Tourism: Focus on sports tours and travel, dealing with individual and group both in India and internationally. The company organizes football, golf, F1, cricket tours and other sports tours for individuals, schools, clubs and university teams of all ages. This initiative focuses on promoting sporting lifestyle and leisure activities amongst children and adults.

Sports Scholarship: Through their partnership with National Scouting Report(NSR), USA; they offer student – athletes (sportspersons)an opportunity to choose from over 2000 colleges in the US and make a career in the sports of his/her choice with a scholarship from these colleges. NSR is the oldest and world’s leading recruiting authority and through Studylink has been providing people with information on career and study options since 1991 in Australia, Europe, India, Singapore, or the USA.

Company today has a nationwide reach through its pan India presence and has been named in the Limca Book of Records (the first Sports Management company to be listed in 2003) for conducting the largest-ever Kabaddi Tournament for Hindustan lever’s brand A1 Super Tea, across 28 districts of Maharashtra in 30 days.

Are you a Sports aficionado? Check out what SPT Sports has on offer!

Advertise with us