Participant Profiles
- Posted by News
- Date April 18, 2023
Aarushi Asawa
Name: Ms. Aarushi Asawa
City: Jaipur
Profession: Co-Head Impact Innovator
Organization: Social Impact & Responsible Business Club of Imperial College Business School
Work Experience: 5 years
Aarushi was a former Table-Tennis Nationals player who created history by winning all the women titles i.e. 5 titles at a tender age of 11 years and was declared Rajasthan No.1 in women table tennis for categories U-12, U-14, U-16, Youth & Women in the same year. Henceforth, she was Rajasthan No I or II for 9 years (2002-11) in all age groups and soon enough she was among the top 10 women table tennis players in the country. In 2010, she also lifted the title for the CBSE Open National champion. Moreover, she was honored with the Chacha Nehru Sports Award by the Government of Rajasthan in 2008-09 for being an outstanding sportswoman. In academics, Aarushi later pursued a Bachelor’s in commerce from Shri Ram College of Commerce and Chartered Accountancy. Currently she is a management consultant with KPMG working in strategy and business improvement. She wishes to return to sports in a management role and bring a diverse perspective from her sports, finance, and strategy experience, to encourage sustainable development through sports while uplifting the sports industry.
Abi Varghese
Name: Mr. Abi Varghese
City: Bangalore
Profession: Marketing Executive
Organization: Sportz Village
Work Experience: 1 year
Mr. Varghese is a Marketing Consultant for India’s premier Sports Management Company, Sportz Village. At Sportz Village, he handles marketing operations for its different verticals – Schools, Academies, CSR, and Experiential Marketing. His role involves managing marketing campaigns, branding, positioning, and communications. A mechanical engineer by education, he uses his analytical experience for the good of the Sport Industry. He is also a Project Manager at India Khelo Football, a nonprofit initiative aimed at uplifting the football ecosystem in India. At IKF, he is involved in numerous projects including, sponsorships, marketing, and e-commerce functioning. His previous experience includes working at SportsHosts, a Melbourne-based Fan Engagement Platform. As part of his job responsibility, he worked on New Member acquisition strategy, its execution and expanding marketing channels. He holds certificates in Sport Sponsorship from University at Autonoma de Barcelona and in Digital Marketing from Google. His goal is to pursue the FIFA Masters after the completion of this course.
Anirudh Padmanabhan
Name: Mr. Anirudh Padmanabhan
City: Bangalore
Profession: Esports & Gaming Editor
Organization: Sportskeeda
Work Experience: 2 years
Anirudh has been working as a Senior Audit Assistant at Deloitte (India Offices of the US) for the last 2 years. He has been involved in the audit of various high profile firms based in the US and across Europe. He has completed his bachelor of commerce in finance from Christ (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru and was recruited by Deloitte through campus placement. An ardent sports fan, he follows various sports like Football, Cricket, Volleyball, Badminton etc. and was also part of the cricket and football teams during his school days. His passion for sports has led him to look for opportunities in the field of sports management, switching from the audit field.
Darryl Parmar
Name: Mr. Darryl Parmar
City: Pune
Profession: Football Coach
Organization: ISST Football Academy
Work Experience: 1.5 years
He works as a Football Coach at the Institute of Sports Sciences and Technology (ISST), Pune. Within the sports sector, in 2020, he has completed his Masters in Sports Sciences degree from ISST Pune. Darryl has also completed various sports workshops in Sports Management, Sports Mental Training, Football Coaching, Strength and Conditioning, Football Scouting, and Talent Identification. Outside the sports industry, Darryl has completed his Masters in Commerce degree, specializing in Business Administration, from Savitribai Phule Pune University in 2021, being his highest educational qualification in the commerce stream. In 2018, he completed his Bachelors in Commerce, specializing in Cost and Works Accounting. Voluntary activities in sports include being a part of “Gift-a-Sport” an NPO that donated sports apparel and equipment to underprivileged children and organizing the ISST Football League, being a part of the ISST Sports.
Krishnan Sreekumar
Name: Mr. Krishnan Sreekumar
City: Bangalore
Profession: Legal Associate
Organization: King Stubb & Kasiva, Advocates & Attorneys
Work Experience: 1.5 years
Krishnan is a lawyer working in the general corporate practice area. He currently serves as a legal associate at Trilegal, a corporate law firm, at its Bangalore office. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Legislative Law degree from National Law University, Jodhpur. He has acted on complex, high value, cross-border as well as domestic transactions. He has experience in acting for large Indian and foreign corporate groups on outbound acquisition transactions in multiple jurisdictions, as well as funds formation and structuring to advising on primary and secondary investments. He has also assisted clients in exits and provided advice on enforcing contractual rights in contentious settlements. Krishnan was a member and team leader of Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access, a non-profit working in India which aims to empower underprivileged children by giving them access to quality legal education.
Haresh Doria
Name: Mr. Haresh Doria
City: Gujarat
Profession: Project Manager
Organization: TAM Media Research
Work Experience: 13 years
Haresh has worked as Media Analyst for Tam Media Research. Since 2015, he has been working as project manager. He has worked on projects like ISL, Pro Kabbadi League, IPL where he has provided reports on coverage of earned media to its clients. He has provided them with insights on marketing and advertising in the sports category. He is very passionate about sports. During his school days, Haresh represented his school in athletes at various state level and national level. He has passions regarding travelling, football and swimming. And had little experience of managing a football team Rangers Football Team of Vadodara at a local tournament. Haresh has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, Gujarat.
Abhishek Venkatesha
Name: Mr. Abhishek Venkatesha
City: Bangalore
Profession: Sales Development Representative
Organization: LimeChat
Work Experience: 6 years
Abhishek is a Business development and Sales professional working at a SaaS startup in Bangalore that caters to Indian and European markets. He also worked at a blockchain startup, Infoeaze as a founding employee for close to 3 years, where he led business development and market research initiatives.
He received a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Business Management from Sheffield Hallam University, UK in 2015. After his undergraduation, until 2020 he owned and operated Football Nation, a small-sided football turf and also operated a football academy for age groups 6-16 years. He is an AIFF ‘D’ Licence holder. He has represented his school and university across the country in football, cricket, basketball and hockey.
Gurdit Singh Sudan
Name: Mr. Gurdit Singh Sudan
City: Mumbai
Profession: Fitness Trainer
Organization: Superprof
Work Experience: 6 years
Gurdit is a third Dan black belt in Taekwondo, national level athlete and has been a coach since 7+ years. He has experience in coaching at schools, colleges, fitness hubs, acting schools, NGOs and remotely with clients worldwide. He is an expert in body weight training and Taekwondo combat training. He has trained thousands of students so far and has also prepared athletes who compete at national level. Currently he is working as a freelancer (fitness and martial arts coach) and is looking forward to setting up a fitness hub of his own in near future. He has completed his Bachelors in Information Technology and has been working in MNC -Inventurus Knowledge Solutions Health – US based health care company, as Team Manager from June 2019-December 2021.
Sivamohan S.
Name: Mr. Sivamohan S.
City: Mumbai
Profession: VForce Coordinator
Organization: UNV India
Work Experience: 4 years
Sivamohan is a multifaceted person wearing multiple hats of an Athlete, Wrestler, Social Worker, Farmer, and Human Rights Activist. He is a National Bronze Medalist in Kurash and the Captain of the Kerala Kurash Team. He was the former V Force Coordinator for United Nations Volunteers India. He has volunteered for many sports management events for the past ten years. Volunteering for local and international events for the V Force, United Nations Volunteers India organisation gave him a rich experience of all aspects of event management. He has played a vital role as a part of the Flood Relief and Rescue Operations during the Kerala Floods in 2018 and 2019. He currently provides coaching in sports for children at the grassroot level.
Sushant Dhakane
Name: Mr. Sushant Dhakane
City: Mumbai
Profession: Legal Intern
Organization: Godrej Properties Limited
Work Experience: 1 year
Sushant is currently pursuing his LLB degree. He is also an avid athlete having played multiple sports in his schooling days like volleyball, badminton, football. He started playing football at the age of 12 and at the age 15 he played for Nationals U-17. He has played football at National Level for the state of Maharashtra in the year 2015. In his college he was in the organising committee for sports and organised sports events, he was also a part of the football team his college.
He continues his passion for football in his law school and organises sports events in his law school. Currently he is majoring in five year law degree from the prestigious Government Law College, Mumbai. He has worked as an legal intern in law firms under Senior Advocates of Bombay High Court.
He was also a legal intern at one of the oldest firms in India Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe. His ultimate goal is to work as a sports lawyer and stay connected to sports.
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Participant Profiles
- Posted by News
- Date October 18, 2022
Dheer Sampat
Name: Mr. Dheer Sampat
City: Mumbai
Profession: Advocate
Organization: High Court, Bombay
Work Experience: 5 years
He is an Advocate by profession who is practicing in High Court, Bombay and other Small Cause Courts since 2020. He completed his Bachelor of Commerce (BCOM) from University of Mumbai. By the end of 2020 he achieved His Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from University of Mumbai. Also he has completed his Masters of Laws (LLM) in Financial Regulations from NMIMS Kirit P Mehta School of Law in 2021. Currently, he is practicing with a Senior Counsel in High Court, Bombay and representing Union of India (Ministry of Railways) in Arbitration matters and is also assisting in private Criminal matters. Since 2017, he has been part of Rotaract District 3141, Mumbai where he has been working in the field of sports and also he has been very successful in being the Chairperson and organizing of various sports projects or events such as Football Tournaments, Cricket Tournaments and other recognized Olympic Sports Tournaments. He has also impacted a large amount of youth in spreading awareness about unique sports available or played around the world such as Pickleball, Sepak Takraw, F1 Racing, Teqball, etc. He has been adjudged as the “BEST SPORTS DIRECTOR” amongst the whole of Rotaract District 3141, Mumbai in the year 2018-19. He has also conducted sports events amongst the handicapped or disabled people. He has also represented his school and college in the field of sports by playing Handball at State level, Throwball and Volleyball at District Level and actively participated in other sports.
Jithesh Devershetty
Name: Mr. Jithesh Devershetty
City: Dombivli
Profession: Sports Analyst
Organization: HUDL INDIA PVT. LTD.
Work Experience: 1 year
Jithesh is currently working as a Sports Analyst at HUDL INDIA PVT. LTD., where he does the video analysis of various sports such as American Football, Soccer, Volleyball, and Basketball. At his work he analyzes the video footage of particular sports, and the data is later sent to teams or coaches as per their requirements. As a Sports Analyst for more than a year, he is keen to do more and learn as much as possible before taking his next leap in the sports industry. In the past years, he has worked as an Assistant manager in a renowned league in Mumbai called as Premiership Football League (PFL) where he received wonderful insights while gaining more knowledge in the field of Sports Management. Recently he received his Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Mumbai.
Dhruv Munjal
Name: Mr. Dhruv Munjal
City: New Delhi
Profession: Lead – Corporate Communications
Organization: OYO
Work Experience: 8 years
A journalist for over eight years, Dhruv has worked for Reuters and Business Standard. As a sports correspondent for one of the world’s largest news agencies, he has extensively covered international sport, from football and tennis to cricket and athletics, including the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
In his role as a feature writer at the financial daily Business Standard, he wrote on a wide range of topics, including politics, culture, lifestyle and technology, with a special focus on the intersection of sports and business.
Dhruv holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Ramjas College, University of Delhi and a post-graduate diploma in journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. Before working professionally, he was part of the Hindustan Times Young Editors programme.
Girish Nikam
Name: Mr. Girish Nikam
City: Palghar
Profession: Sports Management Intern
Organization: Palghar District Football Association
Work Experience: 6 Months
Girish recently earned his degree in business management with a specialization in marketing vertical from Mumbai University eminently securing first rank in his college. He has diverse experience on a multitude of levels taken up during his internship as a Sales & Marketing associate at one of the organic food companies to create, design, and execute marketing campaigns, provide end-to-end customer service while mentoring 90+ sales and marketing apprentices, and conducting learning & development sessions for 100+ interns. As a head of the Cultural & Sports Committee during his college tenure wherein he hosted and organized inter-college sports events and as a student manager for Mumbai University’s DLLE (Department of Lifelong Learning and Extension).
He currently interns with PDFA (Palghar District Football Association). His belief in building elemental establishments led him into organizing grass root football and district-level tournaments. He has the inquisitiveness to delve into various dimensions of the sports industry and the strategies that enable the success of a management team. The FIFA CIES executive course will be an encouraging start to fuel his foray into the sports business arena by providing him with a platform to improve his proficiency and add a new horizon to his perspective.
Udit Sharma
Name: Mr. Udit Sharma
City: Jammu
Profession: Scout & Video Analyst
Organization: India Khelo Football (IKF)
Work Experience: 10 years
Commissioned as Short Service Officer into the Indian Navy in the Engineering field, Udit has continuously worked in tandem as Sports Officer in the Navy ecosystem for the last 10 years apart from carrying out his engineering duties. As a Sports Officer for various departments within the Navy, he has excelled in organizing and participating in various sports events, viz, Western Naval Command Football Tournament, Inter Tri-Services Tournament at Andaman Nicobar Command, to name a few. In addition, he has carried out physical fitness regimes and tests for men of his departments. Prior to the Navy tenure, he participated as a football player and represented Param FC in Inter-District tournaments during 2004-2010. He was part of Mughals FC in 2011-12 and played in C-Division Delhi League. Post completing his Indian Navy career, he has opted for starting his second career in the field of Sports, thereby opting for Executive Sport management programme. He has successfully completed Level 1 & 2 AIFF-IPSO Scouting course and certified PFSA Level 1 Talent Identification personnel. He has also completed certification in Football tactical Analysis and is currently pursuing Barca Innovation hub Football Analyst Certification.
Sayam Nasir
Name: Mr. Sayam Nasir
City: Ghaziabad
Sayam Nasir is a college graduate. He completed his schooling from Hillwoods Academy, Preet Vihar, New Delhi and graduated with a degree in BA Journalism and Mass Communication from International school of Media and Entertainment Studies, Noida Aff. Chaudhary Charan Singh University. He is Fluent in English, Hindi, Arabic and German. He has been an active participant in almost all sports since his school days and holds good knowledge in how the local sports industry works. He is currently working as an Independent journalist, blogging, writing and editing work.
Rahul KC
Name: Mr. Rahul KC
City: Kannur
Profession: Ex- Junior Commissioned Officer
Organization: Indian Navy
Work Experience: 15 years
He is a Junior Commissioned Officer (Physical Training, Indian Navy) with over 15 years of extensive, Hands on experience in Physical Training, Sports & Games, Yoga, Swimming & Life Saving, Leadership, Management & Operations, Team Building in high pressure challenging environment. As a Physical Training Instructor, and Asst. Football Coach of various Indian Naval / Indian Armed Forces units like National Defence Academy Indian Naval Academy & Indian Naval Aircraft Carrier ship Viraat, He has Trained thousands of Cadets / Solders/ Men. He was responsible for Physical Training, Physical Efficiency Test, Data Updating, Training Program Making, Sports Administration of various Indian Naval / Indian Armed Forces Units. He is a qualified Third Class Football Referee of western Indian Football Association. He is graduated in Mathematics with Computer Applications and Qualified Diploma in Yoga. He has Completed Various Certificate Courses Namely Leadership, Life Saving & First Aid, Instructor Course (Naval Institute of Education & Training Technology) and MS Office.
Subhashish Koirala
Name: Mr. Subhashish Koirala
City: Kathmandu
Profession: CEO
Organization: Biratnagar City Football Club
Work Experience: 4 years
Subhashish is currently the CEO of Biratnagar City Football Club. He was one of the pioneers in helping brand a newly formed Nepal Super League via the Biratnagar based franchise. He has done his graduation in computer science and engineering and has been one of the pioneers in bridging the IT and sports genre in Nepal. Subhashish has also completed his diplomas in scouting, analytics and youth soccer from Barcelona. In the grass roots sector, he has worked tirelessly to cater to 14 districts in province 1 via Project Province 1. The province houses close to 5 million people. In the project he has successfully provided various elements of the game be it coaching or equipment to the various epicenters across the 14 districts. He has also actively been involved in the women game under the same project. He has also been running one of the longest surviving football focused radio shows titled “THE VAR SHOW”. Subhashish has also been actively involved in developing the football freestyle genre in Nepal. He has successfully overseen the launch of the freestyle league title “CHUNGI”. He is currently in the process of creating Nepal’s first data analytical center in Biratnagar to cater to teams as well as build a much-needed database for the country. Subhashish aspires not only to help improve his personal career but also help uplift the game in Nepal.
Arnold B. Rao
Name: Mr. Arnold B. Rao
City: Jamshedpur
Arnold has completed his schooling from two of the most prestigious institutes of learning namely Little Flower School and Loyola School, both located at Jamshedpur. While at school he had the honour of playing in the Water Polo team of Jharkhand state at the National Games held at Ranchi in the year 2011. Subsequently, he went on to participate in various swimming championships at the Regional and National levels for ICSE schools and was also part of the schools’ Basketball teams that won at the Inter Jesuit East Zone Championship.
He completed his undergraduate degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru. He has also successfully completed an advanced course in Sports Management from Rajasthan Royals School of Business.
He has a degree in Classical Music Instrumental (Guitar-1st year). He was also selected to represent Jharkhand State at WIZ National Spell Bee.
At leisure, he keenly follows soccer and basketball at international level and listens to music.
Rishabh Jallan
Name: Mr. Rishabh Jallan
City: Bengaluru
Profession: Content Manager / Football Writer
Organization: SKOR Metaverse
Work Experience: 1 year
Rishab is a freelance sports writer at World in Sport London where he publishes latest transfer news, previews / review of matches and in-depth analysis on football related topics. He has extensive knowledge in digital marketing, web content creation, content writing and social media marketing as he was the marketing strategist for Samba Digital where he handled the inbound marketing strategies of the company and supported the marketing team in daily operations. He has received a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administrations from CMS Jain University Bengaluru India and has received a Master’s degree in Football Business from the Football Business Academy Geneva Switzerland. To pursue his other interest, he is a member of the Bangalore Student Community which is a mass student led organization that aims to engage students, from the city, in humanitarian aid & relief projects. He is an active member of Toastmasters International which is a US-headquartered nonprofit educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of promoting communication, public speaking and leadership.
Zeeshan Ghori
Name: Mr. Zeeshan Ghori
City: Khopoli
Profession: Social Media Manager
Organization: Mahatma Education Society – HOC Campus
Work Experience: 2 years
Zeeshan has worked as a Social Media Manager, Filmmaker and a Sports Photographer over the past 4 years. He graduated earlier this year, with a Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia and Mass Communication as an Advertising Major. He currently works as a Social Media Manager for Pillai’s and has a proficiency in the field, having worked with 6 different social media teams before this. In terms of Filmmaking, he has mostly worked as a Video Editor and a Cinematographer but is exploring all other fields in film. During the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022, he worked as a Cinematographer and Photographer for FIFA / Aurora Media. Over the past 5 years he has done Sports Photography for multiple sports and multiple clients.
Anish Ghosh
Name: Mr. Anish Ghosh
City: Kolkata
Profession: Assistant Manager
Organization: HCL Technologies
Work Experience: 3 years
Anish has worked as a legal professional for the past three years. He graduated from the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata in 2019 and since then has worked as a transactional lawyer at EY (Ernst & Young) and HCL Technologies. His usual day at the workplace involves drafting, negotiating and executing commercial contracts. In his free time, he loves reading, meeting his friends and following the sports teams that he loves. Having a keen interest in sports, he aims to be a participant in the growth of the sports industry in the country.
Yuvraj Singh
Name: Mr. Yuvraj Singh
City: Sirsa
Profession: Tennis Coach
Organization: Ambala Lawn Tennis Academy
Work Experience: 3 years
Yuvraj is Global Professional Tennis Coaches Association (GPTCA) Level C certified tennis coach currently working at the Ambala Lawn Tennis Academy. He has been associated with the sport of tennis since 2008. He represented India in tennis at the 29th Summer Universiade (World University Games) held in Taipei, Taiwan in 2017. He completed his Bachelor’s in Arts from Panjab University, Chandigarh in 2018 and won a Bronze Medal for the university at the All India University Games in 2016.
Sports has given him the opportunity to travel the world, meet new people and experience different cultures. He has immense passion for sports and believes that it is a great medium to unite people. His aim is to democratize sports in India by increasing participation in sports and making it accessible for everyone.
Rachana Kamani
Name: Ms. Rachana Kamani
City: Ahmedabad
Profession: Founder
Organization: CitiLines United Fc
Work Experience: 9 Months
Rachana is a National football player and is also a professional football referee at the national level. She is the first female national center referee from Gujarat. She also owns a women’s football team for a gujarat’s auction-based tournament. She has worked with different clubs as a freelancer. She received her bachelor’s of business administration degree in finance from Pandit Deendayal Energy University. She has been awarded with the player of the tournament trophy on 5 different occasions in college level tournaments. She was a Referee Liaison officer for AFC Asian Cup 2022 and has volunteered at Mission 11 million program for the Fifa U-17 World Cup and at Aurora to help them deliver their programmes in partnership with AFC. She is looking forward to working in the sports industry to provide a platform for players and other stakeholders to help them achieve their goals, while her major focus is on women’s sport.
Aarushi Asawa
Name: Ms. Aarushi Asawa
City: Jaipur
Profession: Co-Head Impact Innovator
Organization: Social Impact & Responsible Business Club of Imperial College Business School
Work Experience: 5 years
Aarushi was a former Table-Tennis Nationals player who created history by winning all the women titles i.e. 5 titles at a tender age of 11 years and was declared Rajasthan No.1 in women table tennis for categories U-12, U-14, U-16, Youth & Women in the same year. Henceforth, she was Rajasthan No I or II for 9 years (2002-11) in all age groups and soon enough she was among the top 10 women table tennis players in the country. In 2010, she also lifted the title for the CBSE Open National champion. Moreover, she was honored with the Chacha Nehru Sports Award by the Government of Rajasthan in 2008-09 for being an outstanding sportswoman. In academics, Aarushi later pursued a Bachelor’s in commerce from Shri Ram College of Commerce and Chartered Accountancy. Currently she is a management consultant with KPMG working in strategy and business improvement. She wishes to return to sports in a management role and bring a diverse perspective from her sports, finance, and strategy experience, to encourage sustainable development through sports while uplifting the sports industry.
Abi Varghese
Name: Mr. Abi Varghese
City: Bangalore
Profession: Marketing Executive
Organization: Sportz Village
Work Experience: 1 year
Mr. Varghese is a Marketing Consultant for India’s premier Sports Management Company, Sportz Village. At Sportz Village, he handles marketing operations for its different verticals – Schools, Academies, CSR, and Experiential Marketing. His role involves managing marketing campaigns, branding, positioning, and communications. A mechanical engineer by education, he uses his analytical experience for the good of the Sport Industry. He is also a Project Manager at India Khelo Football, a nonprofit initiative aimed at uplifting the football ecosystem in India. At IKF, he is involved in numerous projects including, sponsorships, marketing, and e-commerce functioning. His previous experience includes working at SportsHosts, a Melbourne-based Fan Engagement Platform. As part of his job responsibility, he worked on New Member acquisition strategy, its execution and expanding marketing channels. He holds certificates in Sport Sponsorship from University at Autonoma de Barcelona and in Digital Marketing from Google. His goal is to pursue the FIFA Masters after the completion of this course.
Anirudh Padmanabhan
Name: Mr. Anirudh Padmanabhan
City: Bangalore
Profession: Esports & Gaming Editor
Organization: Sportskeeda
Work Experience: 2 years
Anirudh has been working as a Senior Audit Assistant at Deloitte (India Offices of the US) for the last 2 years. He has been involved in the audit of various high profile firms based in the US and across Europe. He has completed his bachelor of commerce in finance from Christ (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru and was recruited by Deloitte through campus placement. An ardent sports fan, he follows various sports like Football, Cricket, Volleyball, Badminton etc. and was also part of the cricket and football teams during his school days. His passion for sports has led him to look for opportunities in the field of sports management, switching from the audit field.
Darryl Parmar
Name: Mr. Darryl Parmar
City: Pune
Profession: Football Coach
Organization: ISST Football Academy
Work Experience: 1.5 years
He works as a Football Coach at the Institute of Sports Sciences and Technology (ISST), Pune. Within the sports sector, in 2020, he has completed his Masters in Sports Sciences degree from ISST Pune. Darryl has also completed various sports workshops in Sports Management, Sports Mental Training, Football Coaching, Strength and Conditioning, Football Scouting, and Talent Identification. Outside the sports industry, Darryl has completed his Masters in Commerce degree, specializing in Business Administration, from Savitribai Phule Pune University in 2021, being his highest educational qualification in the commerce stream. In 2018, he completed his Bachelors in Commerce, specializing in Cost and Works Accounting. Voluntary activities in sports include being a part of “Gift-a-Sport” an NPO that donated sports apparel and equipment to underprivileged children and organizing the ISST Football League, being a part of the ISST Sports.
Krishnan Sreekumar
Name: Mr. Krishnan Sreekumar
City: Bangalore
Profession: Legal Associate
Organization: King Stubb & Kasiva, Advocates & Attorneys
Work Experience: 1.5 years
Krishnan is a lawyer working in the general corporate practice area. He currently serves as a legal associate at Trilegal, a corporate law firm, at its Bangalore office. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Legislative Law degree from National Law University, Jodhpur. He has acted on complex, high value, cross-border as well as domestic transactions. He has experience in acting for large Indian and foreign corporate groups on outbound acquisition transactions in multiple jurisdictions, as well as funds formation and structuring to advising on primary and secondary investments. He has also assisted clients in exits and provided advice on enforcing contractual rights in contentious settlements. Krishnan was a member and team leader of Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access, a non-profit working in India which aims to empower underprivileged children by giving them access to quality legal education.
Haresh Doria
Name: Mr. Haresh Doria
City: Gujarat
Profession: Project Manager
Organization: TAM Media Research
Work Experience: 13 years
Haresh has worked as Media Analyst for Tam Media Research. Since 2015, he has been working as project manager. He has worked on projects like ISL, Pro Kabbadi League, IPL where he has provided reports on coverage of earned media to its clients. He has provided them with insights on marketing and advertising in the sports category. He is very passionate about sports. During his school days, Haresh represented his school in athletes at various state level and national level. He has passions regarding travelling, football and swimming. And had little experience of managing a football team Rangers Football Team of Vadodara at a local tournament. Haresh has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, Gujarat.
Abhishek Venkatesha
Name: Mr. Abhishek Venkatesha
City: Bangalore
Profession: Sales Development Representative
Organization: LimeChat
Work Experience: 6 years
Abhishek is a Business development and Sales professional working at a SaaS startup in Bangalore that caters to Indian and European markets. He also worked at a blockchain startup, Infoeaze as a founding employee for close to 3 years, where he led business development and market research initiatives.
He received a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Business Management from Sheffield Hallam University, UK in 2015. After his undergraduation, until 2020 he owned and operated Football Nation, a small-sided football turf and also operated a football academy for age groups 6-16 years. He is an AIFF ‘D’ Licence holder. He has represented his school and university across the country in football, cricket, basketball and hockey.
Gurdit Singh Sudan
Name: Mr. Gurdit Singh Sudan
City: Mumbai
Profession: Fitness Trainer
Organization: Superprof
Work Experience: 6 years
Gurdit is a third Dan black belt in Taekwondo, national level athlete and has been a coach since 7+ years. He has experience in coaching at schools, colleges, fitness hubs, acting schools, NGOs and remotely with clients worldwide. He is an expert in body weight training and Taekwondo combat training. He has trained thousands of students so far and has also prepared athletes who compete at national level. Currently he is working as a freelancer (fitness and martial arts coach) and is looking forward to setting up a fitness hub of his own in near future. He has completed his Bachelors in Information Technology and has been working in MNC -Inventurus Knowledge Solutions Health – US based health care company, as Team Manager from June 2019-December 2021.
Sivamohan S.
Name: Mr. Sivamohan S.
City: Mumbai
Profession: VForce Coordinator
Organization: UNV India
Work Experience: 4 years
Sivamohan is a multifaceted person wearing multiple hats of an Athlete, Wrestler, Social Worker, Farmer, and Human Rights Activist. He is a National Bronze Medalist in Kurash and the Captain of the Kerala Kurash Team. He was the former V Force Coordinator for United Nations Volunteers India. He has volunteered for many sports management events for the past ten years. Volunteering for local and international events for the V Force, United Nations Volunteers India organisation gave him a rich experience of all aspects of event management. He has played a vital role as a part of the Flood Relief and Rescue Operations during the Kerala Floods in 2018 and 2019. He currently provides coaching in sports for children at the grassroot level.
Sushant Dhakane
Name: Mr. Sushant Dhakane
City: Mumbai
Profession: Legal Intern
Organization: Godrej Properties Limited
Work Experience: 1 year
Sushant is currently pursuing his LLB degree. He is also an avid athlete having played multiple sports in his schooling days like volleyball, badminton, football. He started playing football at the age of 12 and at the age 15 he played for Nationals U-17. He has played football at National Level for the state of Maharashtra in the year 2015. In his college he was in the organising committee for sports and organised sports events, he was also a part of the football team his college.
He continues his passion for football in his law school and organises sports events in his law school. Currently he is majoring in five year law degree from the prestigious Government Law College, Mumbai. He has worked as an legal intern in law firms under Senior Advocates of Bombay High Court.
He was also a legal intern at one of the oldest firms in India Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe. His ultimate goal is to work as a sports lawyer and stay connected to sports.
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Participant Profiles
Mr. Joshua Ronald Ivan
Name: Mr. Joshua Ronald Ivan
City: Bengaluru
Designation: Co founder at Goal Football Sc
Organization: Goal Football School
Work Experience: 5 years
He has over 6 years of experience in the corporate field working with multinational corporations like Wells Fargo and Tata Consultancy Services. Since 2016, he has owned and operated Goal Football School in Bangalore, where he develops and trains children at the grassroots and youth-level. Joshua is an AIFF D License certified coach and has completed the FA Level 1 Talent Identification and scouting course. He holds a Master’s Diploma in Event and Sport Management from Teami Entertainment and Media Institute. He has interned for major sporting events such as the Champions Tennis League, and the Pro Kabaddi League to name a few during the course. He also holds a Cambridge ESOL Level 1 certificate in Business English. Joshua actively donates hours of service to non-profits every year focusing on social causes like education, poverty, and health. With the growth of sport in India, he wants to help build a change.
Mr. Shivaji Pawar
Name: Mr. Shivaji Pawar
City: Mumbai
Designation: Interning Assistant in School
Organization: Shantiniketan Public School
Work Experience: 1 year
He is a recent graduate from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, majoring in Media Studies and minoring in Economics. He has a strong background in the latest digital media culture and practices including transmedia storytelling, political videography, and arts writing & criticism. He has also taken courses in decision driven statistics and financial markets as part of a holistic college curriculum. His previous work experiences include a writing and reporting job at Emory Wheel, a campus newspaper and an intern at a construction firm in Virar, Mumbai. He has also completed his studies in training methods, nutrition, and time-management of professional football players at the Manchester United Soccer School.Manchester, UK. He is passionate about community service and has taught in a public school in Pune, India. He is also an avid filmmaker and editor in his downtime, having created a short film and edited advertisements for residential projects and small political campaigns.
Ms. Ayonika Paul
Name: Ms. Ayonika Paul
She is an athlete having played multiple sports from her schooling days. She started shooting at the age of 14 and within a span of 6 months, she got selected to represent India at Asian Shooting Championship in Kuwait in the year 2007 debuting while also appearing for board exams. In spite of being young, she was selected to represent India at the Junior and Senior World Cups and in 2008, a double Gold in Suhl, Germany, winning the first-ever medal for India. Later in 2014, she won the World Cup medal at Maribor for India after a 11-year medal drought for India while pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics Engineering from Pillai College of Engineering, University of Mumbai. With her struggle, time management, dedication for perfection, ability to adapt, and spirit of the game, along with the hunger for higher aspiration and confidence, she achieved World Ranking 7 and Asia Ranking 3. These abilities contributed to her representing India at the Olympic Games Rio, while also pursuing a Masters in Electronics Engineering. Along with winning an Olympic medal, her future goal is to develop and nurture a sports ecosystem for upcoming and established Sportsmen who can win laurels for the nation. She aspires to help many more athletes to win gold medals for India.
Mr. Lokesh Kumar
Name: Mr. Lokesh Kumar
City: Bangalore
Designation: Associate
Organization: HSBC Electronic Data Processing India Pvt.
Work Experience: 4 years
He is an ex corporate banker having 4+ years of experience in commercial banking. He has interacted with various people across countries and believes that goodness binds us all. He wishes to impart this learning in the field of Football to enhance his career and life. He is an aspiring coach hoping to be part of a Football team to help them win trophies. He has conducted sporting activities locally with multiple schools involved and at the corporate level. He would like to contribute to the sport by helping as many athletes/ people as possible during his journey. He is also interested in learning the functions of the human body to help athletes be injury free and help in the rehabilitation process. He actively pursues learning this subject via various courses.
Mr. Lorenzo D’Ilario
Name: Mr. Lorenzo D’Ilario
City: Rome
Designation: Football Referee / Press Office
Organization: Italian Football Federation / Panathlon International
Work Experience: 17 years
Mr. D’Ilario is a football referee in Serie C, the third-highest division in the Italian football league system, and women’s Serie A. He is also a licensed journalist in Italy. He has a Master’s degree in Law from Roma Tre University and had internship experiences in local and foreign law firms. He currently works as Press Officer for the District Italy of Panathlon International, an IOC-recognised movement for the promotion and spread of culture and sporting ethics. Moreover, he is author of several publications on sports law for specialised journals and a regular sports contributor for national and international magazines. Since 2018 he has been appointed as CONI (Italian National Olympic Committee) delegate to Rome’s Municipio II area. His tasks are to maintain relations with sports clubs and organisations on the territory, collaborate with the City Hall in achieving the CONI institutional aims and support the promotion and development of sports practice. In this role he organised summer camps for children in sports centres, contributed to the restoration of sporting playgrounds and planned street basketball tournaments.
Mr. Rakesh Chakule
Name: Mr. Rakesh Chakule
City: Saudi Arabia
Designation: Orthopaedic Surgery Specialist
Organization: Ministry of Health, KSA
Work Experience: 14 years
He is a student of Life, Health and Sports with career interest in sports medicine and administration. He is a passionate footballer and believes that physical activity is the best medicine. He is a medical graduate from Maharashtra University of Health Sciences in 2003 with orthopaedic surgery post-graduation in Mumbai and abroad with special focus on Sports Trauma. He has a PGD in Sports Medicine and is certified in Anti-doping from International Olympic Committee, Switzerland. He is the recipient of the EU Marie-Curie Scholarship 2007-2009 and has travelled across Europe for orthopaedics training. He is a former Fellow at FIFA F-MARC Excellence Centre University Hospital, Regensburg, Germany. He holds a FIFA Football Medicine Diploma. He was a team member of medical services at Rio Olympics 2016, PyeongChang Winter Paralympics 2018 and Abu Dhabi Special Olympics World Games 2019. Having formerly worked at Nanavati Hospital Mumbai, Sporthopaedicum Clinic and Sahyadri Hospital Navi Mumbai, he is currently working as an orthopaedics specialist in KSA. He is a Life member of various national and international medical associations. His life mantra is Maximum Football, More Academics and Minimum Administration.
Mr. Shubham Ruhela
Name: Mr. Shubham Ruhela
City: Bangalore
Designation: Sponsorship Sales Associate
Organization: Chennaiyin Football Club
Work Experience: 5 years
He currently works with Chennaiyin Football club in the sponsorship team, this being his first foray into sports management. In the past, he has worked in the Indian Startup Ecosystem for 5 years in varying capacities with the common theme of helping the businesses to scale up. Graduating in 2015, he worked with two Angel Investors at Investopad focusing solely on filtering potential investment opportunities. Later on, he helped build corporate innovation programs for traditional non-IT companies in India to connect with/acquire/acqua-hire the right startups and rejuvenate them as a 21st century company. Following these programs, he had a short stint as a Corporate Sales Associate at a telematics company called Loconav. Most recently, he was working with iSPIRT, a think-and-do-tank that is behind the India Stack and the newly launched public digital infrastructure for Cashflow-based-Lending. His work primarily involved community engagement and evangelisation here.
Mr. Kumar Mayank
Name: Mr. Kumar Mayank
City: New Delhi
Designation: Co- Founder
Organization: Elevate Wellness
Work Experience: 5 years
He has worked as strategic marketing and business development professional strengthening companies to lead in highly competitive markets, delivering innovative marketing concepts & strategies for 8 years. He started Elevate a holistic platform for mental-wellbeing for corporates in 2020. He led operations and growth for Mindhouse a tech enabled mental wellbeing start-up in 2019. Prior to this in 2017, he worked for Cultfit leading and launching city operations in Delhi NCR, contributing toward team development operations and implementing core business strategy. He started his career with Decathlon Sports India where he successfully launched operations in Coimbatore and Noida .He has also worked with Nike India Pvt Ltd heading retail operations in North responsible for team development, creating a customer centric experience and branding. He is a Bachelor of Fashion Technology from NIFT Bangalore after completing his schooling from DPS Bokaro . He has actively participated in sports and been part of semi-professional teams in Delhi.
Ms. Namita Firodia
Name: Ms. Namita Firodia
City: Ahmednagar
Designation: Founder – NFC Academy
Organization: Foot for football
Work Experience: 4 years
She is an entrepreneur in the sports world and flag bearer of women empowerment in sports in her town. She is the owner of NFC, Pre-Teen Club and KIDFIT Pro (founded in 2018) and caters to children under 5-14- years. With maximum focus on grassroots development, she strives to develop the women power in football. For the past four years NFC has successfully organized various coaching camps, intercity and intercity tournaments, impacting city sports culture and bringing in appreciation from the District Football Association. Her vision has brought development of football to a new level in her town. Her efforts not only proved children to achieve great success and establish themselves in the district competitions but also to reach the I-league. Since 2016 she works as an administrator at her own company and efficiently continues to manage it. She actively works towards social causes for the past 15 years and is the Director at Bhausaheb Firodia Vrudha Ashram. She is a computer science graduate, flourishing artist and a great homemaker.
Mr. Abhijit Singh
Name: Mr. Abhijit Singh
City: Gurgaon
Designation: Events and Artist Manager
Organization: The Piano Artist Man and Artist Management
Work Experience: 2 years
He was working as an events and artist manager for the past two years at The Piano Man Events and Artist Management in New Delhi, India until the pandemic and it’s ensuing restrictions halted work. He was primarily responsible for scheduling daily live music events at different venues and oversaw tie-ups with international artists. His responsibilities included liaising with ticketing aggregators such as BookMyShow among others. Beyond that, he also worked as a customer support executive for a Google process called Google My Business at FIS Solutions solving customers’ queries with their respective listings. He has completed his Bachelor’s in Commerce from the University of Delhi, New Delhi. He has a keen interest in music as well as sports and is currently Grade 2 in the piano from the Associated Boards of The Royal Schools of Music, London.
Mr. Manas Nayak
Name: Mr. Manas Nayak
City: Bhubaneshwar
Designation: Sr. Software Engineer
Organization: Magna Infotech
Work Experience: 7 years
He has been working in the automotive industry as a Research and Development Engineer since 2014. He received his Bachelor’s degree from National Institute of Technology, Agartala. He is an ardent follower of sports, having college level playing experience in cricket, football and basketball. He has represented his college team in various inter college tournaments in football and basketball. Being in the sports committee in college and employee engagement teams during his professional career, he has helped organize various sporting activities. He also has an experience of coaching the women’s cricket team during his time in Magneti Marelli and helped them secure two consecutive titles in intra company cricket tournaments. Working for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, he had the experience of learning new sporting cultures while visiting European countries like Italy, Spain, Belgium and Germany. He is passionate about grassroot development of sporting talent in India and is pursuing the PILLAI/FIFA/CIES Executive Program in Sports Management to achieve this goal.
Mr. Arindam Mitra
Name: Mr. Arindam Mitra
City: Kolkata
Designation: Manager- Media Coordination
Organization: Ques East Bengal FC
Work Experience: 17 years
He has worked as a Human Resource professional, Media Manager and Coordinator for the past 18 years. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Calcutta and a postgraduate degree in Management from IISWBM. After spending a considerable time in different industries, like consumer goods, consumer durable he shifted his career to the sports industry. Talent management is his main forte. After his switch to the football arena he has an experience of looking after foreign brigade management which includes VISA processing and other government obligations of European and Latin American personnel. He was responsible for their cultural fitment within the Indian cultural system. He also looked after the entire medical part for the team including the youth section. He has managed the medical as well as the well being of the residential youth football teams, like U-13, U-15, U-18 at Quess East Bengal. After departing from Quess East Bengal he associates himself with a Youth development academy. The academy has 3 under age teams which take part in I –League. The entire academy is now overhauling the old system and going towards a new state of the art approach.
Mr. Avaneesh Penumarthi
Name: Mr. Avaneesh Penumarthi
He works as a Consultant for explosive licenses. He worked for PlayMonks as Operations Manager from Jan to November 2018. He has organized Telangana Kabaddi League, U-15 Futsal National Championship and Fight Night MMA. Prior to this he worked with Indian School for Business as a program Manager for Centre for Executive Education (CEE) where he handled end to end logistics for open, government and custom programmes. He also managed the smooth flow for CXO level Alumni engagement and provided logistical and operational support to Alumni Relations Flagship Reunion event – Solstice. He has volunteered for United Basketball Alliance as team manager and he was the core member of players Logistics for MUTUA Madrid Open. He represented India for the Asian Flag Football Championship held in Philippines 2017 and Thailand 2019. He also represented India for the first American Football Friendship Bowl between India and Dubai. He has participated in The Annual Exchange program conducted by Gridiron Development Football League in the USA. He has an MBA in Finance & HR.
Mr. Subas Humagain
Name: Mr. Subas Humagain
City: Kathmandu
Designation: Sports Journalist
Organization: Hamrokhelkud
Work Experience: 10 years
He is a sports journalist working in Nepal since the last decade. He runs Nepal’s leading online sports website and has attended various global sporting events in recent years. Having worked as Media Officer at the All Nepal Football Association for 2 years, he holds experience of working in the administration of governing bodies. He started by volunteering as a Website and Social Media administrator for a professional club which paved his way into journalism. Since then, he has worked for top media outlets in Nepal and on his way established a top media outlet with his team. HamroKhelkud.com is now one of the top sports portals, and a leading website in the arena of sports. He has also worked with ICC and other various Medias around the world in International events. He is also an Executive Committee member of Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF).
Mr. Niranjan Raju
Name: Mr. Niranjan Raju
City: Bangalore
Designation: Director
Organization: Goal Football School
Work Experience: 6 years
He founded the Goal Football School – a football training academy in 2016 which trains children at the grassroot levels across 5 centres in Bangalore. In his capacity as Director at the academy, he focuses on building strategies and collaborations for students and coaches of the academy to gain maximum exposure. He works closely with the State Football Association and other academies – nationally and internationally curating exchange programs for the students to have access to the best-in-class football training facilities and curriculum. He also has worked for more than a decade in the social space, with experience ranging from international agencies to local grassroot-level NGO’s. He is presently working for India’s largest tech for good company, focusing on enabling good by enabling volunteering for corporates. He has a degree in computer applications, and is certified in Management and Leadership – Level 4 – from the Chartered Management Institute – CMI.
Mr. Shelton Simon
Name: Mr. Shelton Simon
City: Bangalore
Designation: Operations Content Review Analyst
Organization: Concentrix
Work Experience: 2 years
He has been working with Concentrix in a Google process, which involved analysing and processing graphic content videos in accordance with the YouTube policies and regulations since 2019. Skilled in analysing and communicating video finds, data and trends to the clients to make YouTube a better platform for users. He was part of an internship program conducted during the India vs South Africa test series in 2015 wherein the key responsibilities were hosting and managing the dignitaries during the matches. He is passionate and committed towards sports and has participated in various sporting events and games during his school and college days. He has played football for the school and college team from 2006 to 2011 and was part of the athletics team too, from which he has developed leadership, commitment, discipline and team management skills. He was also part of the sports committee which organised sports fests during his college days.
Ms. Darni Carapurcar
Name: Ms. Darni Carapurcar
She is an enthusiastic and dynamic individual with experience in the field of sports for more than 5 years. She was the Treasurer of a Rugby sports club, named TRYmates Sports Club. Prior to this, she handled business development and sponsorships for the same club. She has also been a coach for the U-16 and U-18 women’s team for contact rugby (Rugby 7s). She is a certified Rugby Ready Level 1 coach and concussion management trainee. She has represented Goa for nationals 5 times in the last 4 years and has also played for Zonals in the country representing the West Zone. She is currently working at Renault, Priority Autoventures Pvt Ltd as Customer Relationship Manager.
Mr. Tharakesh Dharumaraj
Name: Mr. Tharakesh Dharumaraj
City: Mumbai
Designation: Business Development Executive
Organization: Arena 31 Sports LLP
Work Experience: 1.5 years
Having a passion for sports right from childhood, he has invested a lot of time enthusiastically in Football. Right from interning at an early age of 15 with the reputed Mumbai City F.C to now being a part of the City Football Group, he has a combined experience of over 6 years as of 2020. He has created a pathway for many work related opportunities and connections during his stint. He has a Masters degree in Commerce from Mumbai University with a specialisation in Marketing. He joined Arena 31, a sports startup specializing in sports business and infrastructure, as a Business Development Executive and have been a part of growing the company and venturing into different verticals like rendering consultancy services and many more. He also independently works as a sports agent, having successfully signed professional athletes and working towards adding many more potential players to the roster. He firmly believes that completing this prestigious course will help him become one of the best sports administrators and entrepreneurs in India.
Mr. Shashank Gupta
Name: Mr. Shashank Gupta
City: Chennai
Designation: Business Analyst
Organization: Tata Consultancy Service
Work Experience: 4.5 years
An MBA graduate from Great Lakes Institute of Management and a tech professional, he has worked for Consumer-Packaged Goods (CPG) customers as a consultant at Tata Consultancy Services in Chennai. He also has experience as a digital product lead and has catered to the needs of his customers in the e-commerce and digital marketing space. He has been a site manager and sports correspondent for goal.com, where he wrote a number of editorials on ISL and the I-league. Captain of the school and college football teams, his on-ground interest in the sport led him to complete the AIFF D-Licence in football coaching and has coached kids in the under-12 age bracket on a part time basis.
Mr. Shourya Joshi
Name: Mr. Shourya Joshi
City: Gurgaon
Designation: Assistant Merchandising Manager
Organization: Super Glitz
Work Experience: 1 year
He is currently working as an Assistant Merchandizing Manager at SuperGlitz Overseas Pvt Ltd.,Gurgaon. His job involves development and implementation of the visual strategy for displaying products for current clients based in the UK. He was earlier employed with Paras Healthcare Pvt Ltd., Gurgaon where he handled Medical Operations and Quality Control. He holds a Bachelor in Dental Surgery from Manipal University. He was a student athlete for Manipal University as a part of their football team from 2017-19 and currently playing for Delhi FC (Delhi State Senior Division Team).
Ms. Girija Madhu
Name: Ms. Girija Madhu
She is working as the Manager of the Kerala based Chathiyara Football Academy which is affiliated with the Kerala Football Association for the past 4 years. She also was the former manager of Kerala senior women’s football team. She also worked as Center Coordinator of Kerala Blasters Football School and League Operator of AIFF Golden Baby League conducted by AIFF for the season 2018/19 and 2019/20. She completed a diploma in nursing and is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s in Social Work from Indira Gandhi National Open University. She has completed a coach’s training program conducted by Premier League and British Council and the AIFF D license course. She is also the in-charge of junior girls of the Chathiyara Football Academy and training the U12 girl’s team. She is also the General Secretary of Cerebral Palsy Sports Association Kerala.
Mr. Yash Bokadia
Name: Mr. Yash Bokadia
City: Chennai
Designation: Key Account Manager – Sales
Organization: Laalsa Business Insights Pvt. Ltd.
Work Experience: 2 years
With 4 years of experience, he specializes in business operations, account management and sales. Throughout his career, he has maintained a strong record in customer relationships and creating strategies to achieve sales and business objectives. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from DG Vaishnav College, Chennai. He has Secured 7th rank in the state and achieved 548 Olympiad Rank in International Olympiad of English Language organized by Computer Literacy Foundation, New Delhi. He has a huge passion for sports and has played many different sports growing up and won numerous medals in football, cricket, roller skating, swimming, table tennis, badminton, track and field events. In all of his past positions, he has consistently increased the growth of the company by coordinating project plans, schedules, and budget for high profile projects and has grown his skills in account management, project management and organizing work.
Mr. Antony Devassy
Name: Mr. Antony Devassy
City: Ernakulam
Designation: ICT Programmer
Organization: Rajagiri Hospital
Work Experience: 4 years
He has been a Basketball coach for the last 3 years at Vidyodaya School and Carmel Club Ernakulam where he demonstrates the fundamentals and trains the players. Being a coach, he mentors students to maintain their team spirit and true sportsmanship. As a teacher his life involves mentoring students from difficult backgrounds to pursue sports as a profession. He is also a Kerala Basketball Association referee and has also represented the kerala state basketball team. Along with his profession he also continues a career as a software developer at Rajagiri Hospital, Aluva.
Mr. Pranjal Banerjee
Name: Mr. Pranjal Banerjee
City: Kolkata
Designation: Sports Coordinator
Organization: Techno India Group
Work Experience: 7 years
He is a FIFA Referee and an AFC Elite Referee from India since 2014. He has supervised matches in the Indian Super League, I-League, AFC Cup, AFC Champions League, AFC U-16, AFC U-19, AFC U-23, FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Russia 2018, FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Qatar 2022, AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers and other major tournaments across Asia. He is an MBA in HR. He is married and have one sweet little daughter. He is currently working with Techno India Group as a Sports Coordinator.
He received best referee award from All India Football Federation in the year 2017. He also received Khelashree Award from Hony. Chief Minister of West Bengal in 2018.
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Participant Profiles
Dr. Lalzarmawia Khiangte
Name: Dr. Lalzarmawia Khiangte
City: Aizawl
Designation: Sports Medicine Physician
Organization: Mizoram State Sports Council (MSSC)
Work Experience: 13 years
Dr. Khiangte has worked as a Sports Medicine Physician for over 10 years. He joined the Mizoram State Sports Council (MSSC) in 2013 wherein he helps athletes and non-athletes, prevent and treat injuries and works on their rehabilitation. He holds office privileges of Sports Medicine Doctor at MSSC and held various responsibilities such as Doping Control Officer (DCO) in the recent FIFA U17 World Cup held in India, DCO at Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 and Indian Super League (ISL) 2017 – 2018. He is currently the DCO for International Doping Tests and Management (IDTM) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He is also an Executive Member of the Mizoram Football Association (MFA). After completing MBBS in 2003, he completed a course in Fellowship in Sports Science (FSS) in 2009 from Apollo Hospital, Hyderabad and Post Graduate Diploma in Sports Medicine (PGDSM) from NS NIS, Patiala in 2012. He further completed the FIFA Diploma in Football Medicine (FDFM) in 2017. Dr. Khiangte is also a Life Member of Indian Association of Sports Medicine (IASM) and Indian Society of Sports & Exercise Medicine (ISSEM).
Mr. Mangesh Desai
Name: Mr. Mangesh Desai
City: Mumbai
Designation: AFC ‘A’ Coach and Technical Officer
Organization: All India Football Association (AIFF)
Work Experience: 8 years
Mr. Desai is an ex semi-professional player and has been working in the Indian Football Industry for the past eight years in coaching and management. He is an AFC A Licensed coach having extensive experience in training elite youth players at various clubs across the country. He has been the Technical Officer at All India Football Federation for the past three years driving the FIFA Forward Project in Western India. He was assigned to work closely with the Technical Study Group at the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in India in 2017. He has been instrumental in developing the Football ecosystem in Maharashtra by initiating and executing several development activities such as the State Youth League and Academy accreditation process. He is also an Instructor for the AIFF D License course having conducted more than 20 courses since 2016. He has graduated with Bachelor of Arts degree with specialization in Psychology from the University of Mumbai. He is also a volunteer at the Indian Forest Department for several wildlife conservation projects.
Mr. Hur Jaffer
Name: Mr. Hur Jaffer
City: Mumbai
Designation: Asst. Team Operation and Marketing Manager
Organization: Pro Kabaddi Team Patna Pirates Operations
Work Experience: 5 years
Originally from the hotel industry, Mr. Jaffer recently got a chance to showcase his zest and talent in the Sports industry. He joined the Patna Pirates Kabaddi team, where within months he was promoted to Assistant Operations and Marketing Manager. He handles everything related to the teams on ground activities along with working under the Marketing Head for sponsorship and team branding across all media channels. He completed his education from Les Roches School of Hotel Management, Switzerland with a specialization in Marketing. He is keen to learn more about the sports industry and the strategies that enable the success of a management team. He is a fitness enthusiast, a keen follower of all sports and loves playing football.
Mr. Khushal Palicha
Name: Mr. Khushal Palicha
City: Mumbai
Designation: Brand and Fundraising Manager
Organization: Forca Goa Foundation
Work Experience: 5 years
Mr. Palicha is currently working with a not-for-profit sports entity – Forca Goa Foundation which is affiliated with the ISL club FC Goa. The mission of the organization is to create a strong grassroots football program based on coaching, competition and infrastructure development. His role entails strategy, branding as well as fundraising and he has been working at the foundation since September 2018. Having done his post-graduation in advertising and marketing from Xavier’s Institute of Communication, he has acquired over 4 years of experience in communications as well as consumer research agencies. His previous stint includes working as a Marketing Analyst at Nielsen India. As a part of his job responsibility, he has managed marketing campaigns of sports clubs and brand manufacturers of sporting goods.
Mr. Geo George Vadakkan
Name: Mr. Geo George Vadakkan
City: Mumbai
Designation: Senior Specialist-Technical Solution
Organization: Ericsson India Pvt. Ltd.
Work Experience: 19 years
Mr. Vadakkan has a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering and is working in in the telecom industry since 2001. His pre-sales domain of work has helped him to develop necessary skills like engaging, managing and negotiating with partners. It has also improved his acumen in business financial parameters which can be applied to the sports management field. He is a sports enthusiast and a passionate footballer who has acquired a D License from WIFA (Western India Football Association) affiliated to AIFF (All India football Federation) in July 2017. He is a freelancer football coach and donates at least 250 hours of his time to small clubs and institutions who are keen in playing the sport; sharing his knowledge in football and improving their overall skills in the game.
Mr. Rahul Sengupta
Name: Mr. Rahul Sengupta
City: Kolkata
Designation: Sponsorship Coordinator – VIVO Indian Premier League
Organization: IIMG
Work Experience: 8 years
Mr. Sengupta is a Sports Marketing professional having worked with the Indian Premier League, FIFA U-17 World Cup and Northeast United FC in the last five years. A Sports Management graduate from West Bengal University of Technology, he has extensive experience of working in the industry for over 8 years. Rahul has led award winning Marketing campaigns for Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he led the Digital team for four IPL seasons. He has worked as the Digital Media Manager for CPL T20 team Barbados Tridents in 2017 and 2018 seasons. Rahul specialises in Digital Marketing, Business Development and Sponsorship Management having worked with brands like Ten Sports, MRF Tyres, Britannia, Wipro, VIVO, Future group, Diageo etc. He is a fervent football lover hailing from a traditional East Bengal FC fanatic family in Kolkata.
Mr. Anand Godiwala
Name: Mr. Anand Godiwala
City: Mumbai
Designation: Communications Manager
Organization: Indian Rugby Football Union (IRFU)
Work Experience: 3.5 years
Mr. Godiwala is the Communications Manager at the Indian Rugby Football Union (IRFU), the sole governing body for the sport of rugby in India. He is an active rugby player and has represented India at the international stage. His current role involves the development of rugby, which is currently in its nascent stages in the country. He specializes in corporate communications, covering the organization’s online space as well as sponsor management. Through his role at the IRFU, he has gained valuable exposure in various verticals of sport management including events, grassroots development and many more. He has been an avid sportsman right from his school days, trying his hand at basketball, football, table tennis and finally rugby over the last decade. He completed his schooling from the Cathedral & John Connon School before pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in Management Studies from Jai Hind College.
Ms. Noopur Harsh
Name: Ms. Noopur Harsh
City: Navi Mumbai
Designation: Strategy Consultant
Organization: IBM
Work Experience: 4 years
Ms. Harsh is currently working as a Strategy Consultant with IBM. She has completed her engineering from UMIT and then went on to work with Deloitte as a Business Technology Analyst. Post that she completed her MBA in strategic marketing and communications where she briefly studied sports marketing as part of her course. She is an ardent follower of sports with interest in NBA and the functioning of the leagues. She was a part of the Sports Committee at MICA where she planned, managed and organized events with budget of over 5 lacs. She also handled the finances of the entire Sports Committee for the FY 2016-17. She has represented her college in multiple sports and is currently learning to learn boxing. She has recently started her Instagram page (womeninsportinc) with a few others with a mission to highlight and garner media attention to the achievements of women in sports.
Mr. Blesson Dsouza
Name: Mr. Blesson Dsouza
City: Dubai/Mumbai
Designation: Regional HR Manager
Organization: Genius Sports
Work Experience: 10 years
Mr. D’Souza is working as a Regional Manager for about five years after having about 10 years of experience in the HR stream. He is currently in charge of Live Data distribution around The Middle East and South Asia. He handles the integrity issues when it comes to statisticians. He has extensive experience in integrity and makes sure the feed he provides for the Legal Betting industry is accurate and not manipulated. He manages sports like soccer, basketball, and volleyball & handball. He has around 300 Statisticians working full-time / part-time under him. He has completed his Graduation from Mumbai University and is currently pursuing his MBA in HR from Amity University. Some of the key tournaments managed under him are Indian I league from Season 2015, Asian Champions League, and AFC Cup. He has provided his services as a volunteer for the Special Olympic Games UAE 2019. He works closely with Football Federations around Asia. His work involves a lot of traveling in order to conduct meetings with the seven Country Managers under him. He operates from UAE & Bulgaria.
Mr. Ajil D’almeida
Name: Mr. Ajil D’almeida
City: Mumbai
Designation: Operations, Marketing and Communication Specialist
Organization: Maxtalent Global Sports
Work Experience: 7.5 years
Mr. D’almeida has 4 years international experience working with Maxtalent Global Sports, which is recognized as one of the top youth sports development organizations in United Arab Emirates. He has successfully delivered numerous international and domestic sports projects. He was responsible for the communications and event flow in charge at the ICC world cup trophy tour held in UAE, tour manager of overseas sports tour to U.K. and Oman, headed UAE’s longest running inter-school & university cricket tournament for 3 years in a row and many more activities throughout the year. He has worked for about 3.5 years with Deutsche Bank of India as a process executive where he was responsible for RBI regulatory reporting. As part of his personal passion for retail, he is the founder of Copycatz (www.copycatz.in), a startup from 2015 which specializes in customized apparel and accessories which is now a family-run business.
Mr. Rajeev Menon
Name: Mr. Rajeev Menon
City: Chennai
Designation: Vice President, Human Resources
Organization: Cognizant
Work Experience: 24 years
Mr. Menon is VP, Human Resources for Cognizant in India and currently heads the Talent Acquisition Function. As part of his role, he leads the recruitment function for both campus and lateral hiring. He also manages the Global Sourcing team and the TA Global Risk and Compliance function A graduate in Economics from the University of Madras, he took his post graduate degree in Personnel Management from the Madras School of Social Work. He has over 24 years of experience across diverse industries such as media, logistics and IT Services. His passion includes playing hockey, trekking and travelling. He has been associated with developing hockey at the grassroot level and is extremely passionate about increasing the popularity of the game. He is the Vice President of the Greater Chennai Hockey association and also holds honorary positions in a few academies aimed at promoting the sport at U-13 and U-15 age categories.
Mr. Sreekanth Nagaraj
Name: Mr. Sreekanth Nagaraj
City: Mumbai
Work Experience: 12 years
Born to a sports loving family, Mr Nagaraj’s late father was one of the finest golf professionals in the country who later took to teaching budding golfers including him. As a sports enthusiast, his association with sports goes back 3 decades. Golf has helped him enhance his observational skills which further boosted his focus towards academics & other mental sports such as Chess. During his school days he played Badminton, Cricket, Basketball, but the one sports closest to his heart is Golf. His zeal, passion & dedication over the years made him convert his hobby into a full-fledged profession. To add to his credit, he was the best junior golfer in Mumbai for 2 years in a row. He also won the longest drive and close to the pin Junior golf tournament in Dubai. He is currently working for Mehta group of companies as a senior executive Manager, who manages their operations for the golf courses in Uganda and Porbandar.
Mr. Uday Shroff
Name: Mr. Uday Shroff
City: Noida
Designation: Promoter
Organization: Aspire Hill
Work Experience: 7 years
Mr. Shroff has worked in football for over the last six years in a management role where he has trained over 2,000 kids. Until 2018, he was the Business Director at RoundGlass Sports where he set up Punjab’s biggest grassroots programme in Football. Currently, he has setup an business in partnership with two verticals: Total Football India, a football academy providing world class football training at the grassroots level and Turf Enough, an organization that builds sports infrastructure. He now aims to shape the sport of Football in the state of Uttar Pradesh. He holds an AIFF-D License coaching certificate and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration degree from Amity University.
Ms. Surabhi Maiti
Name: Ms. Surabhi Maiti
Designation: Systems Engineer
Organization: Tata Consultancy Services
Work Experience: 3 years
Ms. Maiti is a Software Professional working as a System Engineer at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with three years of experience in technical support. Her client is a telecom company based in South Africa. She has been appreciated and rewarded for her efforts in handling critical project activities effectively both by TCS and the client. She had also organized the Cricket League Season 3 for the client. She is actively involved in sports and received many awards over the years. She played Football at the National level representing Maharashtra in 2010. She represented TCS Mumbai women’s Football team and won the best player award at her corporate football tournament. She has a Computer Engineering degree from VIT which is affiliated to Mumbai University. She was the Sports Head at VIT. She participated in Intra-college Sports Festivals at VJTI, ICT, KJ Somaiya, Xavier’s and the University of Mumbai. Her team’s paper on Human Genome variation using Big Data won the 3rd Best Paper award at an International Conference in New Delhi.
Mr. Nitin Arora
Name: Mr. Nitin Arora
City: Mumbai
Designation: Business Head
Organization: Pune 7 Aces- Premier Badminton League
Work Experience: 8 years
Mr. Arora began his professional career in 2011 and has been an active stakeholder in the Indian Sports spectrum since 2013 garnering experience across Events, Programming, Talent & Celebrity Management and Franchise Management. He has worked with industry stalwarts like Percept for Sports Event Management, Star Sports for Programming & Talent Management and currently heads the business for Pune 7 Aces, a franchise in The Premier Badminton League. Following his passion and zeal to contribute to the Sporting ecosystem in the country, he started a Sports and Entertainment Celebrity Management firm in 2016 for a seamless, organic integration of creating and nurturing the revenue streams for athletes in the fields of Cricket and other sports. He has also explored opportunities across BFSI, Traditional Media & mainstream Entertainment to dovetail the learning’s into scripting a growth story for Sports. Nitin aims to become a global Sports Professional in the near future.
Mr. Danaindran Rajendran
Name: Mr. Danaindran Rajendran
City: Kaula Lumpur
Designation: Head of Operations
Organization: Asian International Arbitration Centre
Work Experience: 9 years
Mr Rajendran is the Head of Operations at the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC), an international organisation established in 1978 under the auspices of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organisation (AALCO). The Centre provides institutional support as a neutral and independent venue for the conduct of international arbitration proceedings, which includes Sports Arbitrations. He is responsible for the daily operations of the Centre through collaboration with Legal Services and Business Development Departments, performing an array of administrative tasks from managing calendars, generating correspondence, planning and coordinating team meetings and scheduling facilities. In addition, he acts as liaison between staff and the Director of AIAC with respect to employee well-being, project updates, proposals, and planning. His day-to-day responsibilities extend to advising on the general legal affairs of the Centre, by providing strategic consultation to the Government (through its Ministries and proxy agencies) in the AIAC’s capacity as a Government think tank.
Since 2014, he has led several sports law initiatives for the Centre, by coordinating the development of the Asian Sports Tribunal (AST) framework by liaising with authorities in the Malaysian sports industry, notably the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) and the Office of the Minister for Youth & Sports and numerous other sporting associations (professional and amateur). The AST is a pilot project that was successfully utilised in the 2017 SEA Games held in Kuala Lumpur. He has also organized tribunal hearings for the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) which are regularly held at the AIAC as the official alternative hearing venue for CAS in Asia. He is one of the founding members of the Sports Law Association of Malaysia (SLAM) and current acting Treasurer for the 2018/2019 term. As a professional body, SLAM aims to inspire leadership and interest in the issues of law in sports by creating a knowledge-sharing and networking platform amongst sports lawyers and sports industry stakeholders.
Mr. Mohit Khanna
Name: Mr. Mohit Khanna
City: Ahemdabad
Designation: Head of Operations
Organization: Kahaani Sports Academy
Work Experience: 2 years
Mr. Khanna is working as Head of Operations at Kahaani Sports Academy (a local football club) in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He has two years of work experience in Sports industry. After starting as an intern for content writing at the football club in 2017 while pursuing graduation, he gradually worked his way up to managing marketing activities of the Club to currently looking after its overall operations management. In this short period, he has gained appropriate knowledge of condition and functioning of football in the local community. With the help of the club he is working towards promoting this beautiful sport in the city. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with specialization in Human Resource and Finance from Ahmedabad University.
Mr. Neel Shah
Name: Mr. Neel Shah
City: Mumbai
Designation: Business Development Manager
Organization: PIFA Sports Private Limited
Work Experience: 3 years
Mr. Shah has worked on various aspects within the Indian football ecosystem. He started off as a professional football player in the I-League 2nd division in 2014. He then went on to pursue his education at Southampton Solent University in the U.K. and achieved a BA (Honours) Degree in Football Studies & Business. After graduating in 2017 he became the Head of Youth Development for Premier India Football Academy (PIFA). In 2018 he received the AFC C’ License Coaching Certificate and has coached and managed the U- 13, U-15, U-18 and Women’s Football team for PIFA Sports F.C. Apart from that Neel has also been handling the Administration for the his family-run Academy and also has an expertise in organizing Football tournaments such as the Junior Football League (JFL), Premier Football League (PFL) and the Varsity Cup. Last but not least, Neel has also been an integral part of creating business development plans for the domestic/international football training camps organized by PIFA which give opportunities for students to get top quality football training by highly ranked foreign coaches.
Mr. Rashik Gurjar
Name: Mr. Rashik Gurjar
City: Jaipur
Designation: Operations Executive- IPL Team
Organization: Rajasthan Royals
Work Experience: 2 years
Mr. Gurjar has been a sports enthusiast since childhood. He has been working with different sports organizations in various roles for the past one year. He worked as an Operations Executive for RAJASTHAN ROYALS in IPL 2019 where he was in-charge of hospitality & team requirements’ management. After this experience he worked with SSPARK managing services for the inaugural WOMEN’S T20 CHALLENGE. He worked with First Choice Hospitality as concessions manager for MEN’S HOCKEY WORLD CUP 2018 in Bhubaneswar Odisha and with Martin Garrix India Tour 2018. He also worked as an operations coordinator with Rajasthan Royals at the beginning of his career in 2018. He is fueled by his passion and love for sports, with a dream to see EQUALITY in sports where “Every SPORT and SPORTSPERSON deserves equal love and respect”.
Mr. Sandipta Das
Name: Mr. Sandipta Das
City: Kolkata
Designation: Co-Founder and Player’s Agent
Organization: Treble Sports Management
Work Experience: 9 years
Mr. Das owns a consultancy firm, Treble Sports Management where he offers bespoke solutions to his clientele (Player’s, Coaches, Clubs and Associations) with regard to player recruitment, training camp, consultancy, marketing etc. He currently works with professional players around the globe and seeks possible opportunities to offer a suitable contract to them from a professional football club in India or abroad. He facilitated the deal for the very first pro footballers from countries like Namibia and South Korea to play in registered top level football leagues in India. His journey began way back in 2009 when as a teenager he conducted a football trial camp sponsored by a Nonresident Indian. Apart from his job, he is an avid fan of Liverpool FC and has also been an ex board member for the official Liverpool supporters club, Bengal.
Mr. Hassan Mujtaba
Name: Mr. Hassan Mujtaba
City: Mumbai
Designation: Sr. Account Executive
Organization: Me Biz PR
Work Experience: 3 years
Mr. Mujtaba is a Senior Account Executive with Go Fish Entertainment wherein he advises clients on Public Relations strategies. Before this, he was with Adfactors PR in Infrastructure practice. He strongly believes that Business and Communication should go hand in hand. Introspection and a strong passion for the work keep him motivated. Hassan dreams to be a Talent Manager for athletes at the grassroots level and assist young talents to reach their goal. In his free time, he indulges in books and movies. He is an avid follower of Athletics, Premier League, Champions League and National Basketball Association. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Asian Institute of Professional Studies in 2016 and completed his Post- graduation in Public Relations & Corporate Communication from Xavier Institute of Communications in 2017.
Mr. Vishal Srivastav
Name: Mr. Vishal Srivastav
City: Mumbai
Designation: Journalism
Organization: Freelancer
Work Experience: 9 years
Mr. Srivastav is a former national badminton player who has a number of accolades to his name. He has passion for sports that made him opt for a career in sports journalism. He was awarded with ‘Sportsman of the Year Award’ in the year 2004-05 for captaining his school in as many as five sporting disciplines. Alongside, he has a rich experience as sports commentator, coach, writer and sports manager. He loves training budding sportsmen and would like to set up a state-of-the-art badminton academy in India where he aspires to sculpt some of world’s brightest badminton talent. He has trained under a renowned ISSA certified health and conditioning coach. . He has extensive experience covering global and Indian sports. He has reported from Ground Zero for a number of global sports events. He has a Bachelor’s degree in journalism from Makhanlal Chaturvedi Rashtriya Patrakarita Mahavidyala.
Mr. Raghav Chhabra
Name: Mr. Raghav Chhabra
City: New Delhi
Designation: Technical Manager
Organization: YoungStar Academy, India
Work Experience: 3 years
Mr. Chhabra has worked as an Assistant Trainer and Operations Intern, Chief Co-ordinator and Technical Manager at Young Star Academy (YSA) over the course of 6 years. During his tenure, he was responsible for developing a business model that enabled Young Star Academy to become a multisport academy by adding four new sports. He successfully created and implemented pre participation evaluation (PPE) that gave YSA the ability to monitor player’s improvements on a regular basis by identifying their strengths and weaknesses. He was also responsible for developing strategy and implementation plans for advertising and marketing campaigns. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Investment Analysis from Amity University, NOIDA. During his under graduate course, Raghav was selected for a six-week Study Abroad Program at Birkbeck College, London. His team won a competition that involved creating a realistic and successful business plan. He dreams to create an environment where each and every child gets exposure, appropriate training and right direction in order to become sports stars of the next generation.
Mr. Bidhu Kalyan Das
Name: Mr. Bidhu Kalyan Das
City: Mumbai
Designation: Planning and Project Management
Organization: SPI Incubator, Mumbai
Work Experience: 3 years
Mr. Das is currently working as a Strategy lead in SPI Incubator, SPI Group. He joined the company in 2017 post his MBA and has contributed in projects across sectors like Education, Talent Management and Real Estate. He has gained significant experience in verticals involving business expansion, business diligence, and marketing. He has a deep interest in sports. Apart from the popular sport cricket, he pursues his passion in athletics, participating in several Marathons and the slightly offbeat but fast growing sport Parkour. He is passionate about understanding the sporting landscape and attends events such as Global Sports Shows every year. An avid reader of books related to sports, he enjoys sharing opinions and perspectives on social media through blogs and posts. Going forward he aspires to help organizations build a sporting culture, promote sports among local communities and contribute in various leadership roles.
Mr. Saieesh Mayya
Name: Mr. Saieesh Mayya
City: Navi Mumbai
Work Experience: 1 year
Mr. Mayya has completed his B.Tech in Computer Engineering from Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology, Navi Mumbai. Being a sports management aspirant, he has completed three internships in this field; namely at SportzConsult, FIFA U-17 World Cup and DY Patil Sports Academy. He has experience of being associated with grass root football tournaments and organizing national level cricket tournaments during his internships. He was the President of the Sports Committee during his college tenure wherein he hosted and organized inter college sports events that witnessed participation from more than 30 colleges throughout Mumbai. He was given the responsibility of managing the competitions and player/referees during the FIFA U-17 World Cup. He has also been associated with DY Patil Club Cricket team as their interim team manager for their tournaments organized by Mumbai Cricket Association. He still serves as a mentor to the next Sports Committee of RAIT College, guiding them in efficiently conducting various sporting events.
Ms. Pankhurie Gupta
Name: Ms. Pankhurie Gupta
City: Delhi
Designation: Marketing Intern
Organization: Bhaichung Bhutia football schools
Work Experience: 2 months
Ms. Gupta is currently working with the marketing team of Bhaichung Bhutia football schools, New Delhi. She is responsible for Videography/Photography, Event and Faculty Management and also handles its social media. She received a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Multimedia and Mass Communication from Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi where she gained experience in video production, editing and graphic designing.She has led various competitive societies and possesses fine leadership skills. She has pursued dancing in Jazz, Ballet, and Hip-hop for years and is also familiar with beginner level Indian Sign Language. She has also worked with Mygoodtimes (formerly NDTV Goodtimes) as a digital production intern.
Mr. Nithin Mohan
Name: Mr. Nithin Mohan
City: Malappuram
Designation: U-15 Team Manager
Organization: Kerala Blasters Football Club
Work Experience: 3 years
Mr. Mohan is currently working as a Youth Team Sports Manager for Under -15 age category at Kerala Blasters FC. He has managed the team on many national youth football tournaments like AIFF Junior League and Subroto Mukherjee International Cup. He has also volunteered in coordinating various regional football grass root festivals. Nithin has worked as an engaging Client Relations professional, adept at supervising and training team in trekking activities and rock climbing that focussed on team building and experiential learning which inculcated Kurt Hahn educational philosophy. Lead through example with consistent work ethic, attitude, and professionalism, ensuring high-quality service, overseeing the operations of the organization and having a good level knowledge of sports strategies. He has conducted and organized workshops on team building that aimed at achieving team bonding skills, leadership skills, survival skills, team spirit and character building that helped in the holistic development of individuals.
Mr. Gourav Singh
Name: Mr. Gourav Singh
City: Bengaluru
Designation: On-boarding Specialist
Organization: Amazon
Work Experience: 2 years
Mr. Singh is working as on-boarding specialist at Amazon since August, 2018 where he helps on-board new sellers on platform for selling their products across India. His work involves creation of content as per company’s standard which customers will view while shopping on Amazon, helping sellers in running ad campaigns for boosting sales and providing complete training to make sellers self-sufficient for handling their own account.
He has also worked as Branded Sales Associate for Mallcom(India) Ltd. Dec 2017-June,2018. He was responsible for brand development and sales. He assisted his team for organizing seminars, running safety week campaigns and generating revenue through sales. He has completed Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering from Asansol Engineering College (WBUT), India. He has been a regular part of college and school football team and my most notable wins are Sahodaya Football Tournament (2009) and Zone 1 Inter College Football Tournament (2017).
Mr. Ashwath Nair
Name: Mr. Ashwath Nair
City: Mumbai
Designation: Lawyer
Organization: Jayesh Vyas
Work Experience: 3 years
Mr. Nair is a lawyer by profession and has been in this field for around 3 years. In 2018-19, he completed his diploma in Sports Law from Gujarat National Law University and scored 81% in it. He also was selected as a research intern by Krida Legal (India’s leading firm in Sports litigation) in association with the U.K India Business Council, where he conducted a research experiment to explore the various contours of the Gaming Industries in India. He is a certified Level 1 Cricket Coach by the ICC Academy at Dubai (International Cricket Council). Besides Sports, he has also had practical experience in legal matters relating to Civil litigation and Conveyancing.
Mr. Rahul Gharpure
Name: Mr. Rahul Gharpure
City: Mumbai
Designation: Head – Football Academy
Organization: The Sports Gurukul
Work Experience: 1 year
Mr. Gharpure is a young sports management professional with a strong motivation for learning and development. He currently serves as the Head of Football Academy at The SportsGurukul based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, where he heads the operations and marketing of the academy along with the technical development of its football programme. He has extensive experience in operations management, grassroots development and marketing which is reflected through his work at AIFF Baby League, Western India Football Association (WIFA) and Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA).Having organized multiple leagues and tournaments and due to his close association with the FIFA U17 World Cup India, he possesses a holistic understanding of the sports events organisation and management. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management from National Academy of Sports Management, Mumbai. His certifications like AIFF Grassroots Leaders Course and The FA Level 1 in Talent Identification and Psychology only add to his knowledge in coaching, player analysis and development.
Ms. Gauri Pawar
Name: Ms. Gauri Pawar
City: Mumbai
Designation: Project Coordinator
Organization: SportzConsult
Work Experience: 1 year
Ms Pawar is serving as a Project Coordinator at SportzConsult in Mumbai, India where she works on various sports programme catering to large set of audience which includes grassroots development, women development through sports and creating experiential sports events. Here she has led planning and execution of multiples ports events. Gauri has a Bachelor of Management Studies degree with a specialization in the marketing vertical from Jai Hind College,Mumbai. She also completed a Digital Marketing course offered by Google. She used to play football professionally and has also captained her club and her college team how ever due to an injury she was asked to stop pursuing football. Yet in order to keep her self connected with sports she began to volunteer for programmes that focused on women empowerment through sports. She has a dream to be the change in the sports industry and to pursue her passion and empower it through sports.
Mr. Snedden Medeira
Name: Mr. Snedden Medeira
City: Margao
Designation: Technical Program Coordinator
Organization: Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools
Work Experience: 1 year
After completing his graduation from Goa University in Bachelor of Commerce, in the year 2018, Mr. Medeira has recently completed a one year Diploma in Sports Coaching from Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education, Gwalior. He was actively involved in the conduction of various intramural competitions. As part of his curriculum of the Sports Coaching course, he has completed his two months internship at Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools, Delhi. During his internship period, he was able to actively assist in the coaching of players, as well as work under the technical team in the office.
Mr. Abin Joy
Name: Mr. Abin Joy
City: Ernakulam
Designation: Relationship Manager
Organization: Sporthood
Work Experience: 2 years
Mr. Joy is working in the Sports industry for the past two years and currently is the Relationship Manager at Sporthood. Heading a great team and providing quality coaching helped him to facilitate the center’s growth and expansion. Since 2017 he has worked as a Physical Education Trainer and provided coaching to more than 200 children in the age group of 3-15 years. He has also conducted more than 10 tournaments for both corporate and amateurs involving himself completely in its planning and execution. He has volunteered for U 17 FIFA World Cup and coordinated the Redbull Neymar Jr’s Five tournaments in Kochi. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering.
Mr. Roshan Surana
Name: Mr. Roshan Surana
City: Pune
Designation: DevOps Engineer
Organization: CloudCover, Inc.
Work Experience: 4 years
Mr. Surana is a DevOps Engineer at CloudCover, Pune, India, where his day- to-day tasks involve communicating with people across various levels & different cultures, understanding their requirements, and accordingly providing solutions for maintaining their infrastructure on the cloud. He received his Bachelor of Engineering degree in Information Technology from the Savitribai Phule Pune University, AISSMS IOIT, Pune. Being a member of the Student Association during his college days, he collaborated with other members to organize many tech fests & sports events in his college. He is very passionate about sports and follows Football and Cricket. According to him, sport isn’t just about athletics, it’s also about entertainment and there are many people who are working behind-the-scenes to make everything happen. He would love to play that role as it offers some of the same mental and emotional challenges as playing in a sports team. He aspires to be a part of the success of a team, franchise or an athlete and believes that he will enjoy working in one of the most vibrant and fun-filled industries in the world.
Mr. Balakrishnan Thevar
Name: Mr. Balakrishnan Thevar
City: Mumbai
Designation: Physical Education Professional
Work Experience: 6 years
Mr. Thevar has been working as a Physical Education professional since 2013. His role is to enhance physical activities, strength development, coordination, motor skills and also to encourage a healthy and balanced lifestyle in students. He has a D License certification course in Football under the aegis of All India Football Federation which has benefitted him in training the school students to form school football teams for District Sports Tournaments. He also trains students for various Athletic Meets. He has taken up coaching as a hobby to train young kids in Table Tennis and helps them participate in various tournaments.
Mr. Vishal Patil
Name: Mr. Vishal Patil
City: Navi Mumbai
Designation: Physical Education Professional
Organization: The Aditya Birla Integrated School
Work Experience: 7 years
Mr. Patil has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and in Physical Education from Mumbai University. He has been working with International Schools as a PE teacher for the past six years, and now works with the Aditya Birla Integrated School where he is working with children with special needs. He is also an avid sportsman and represented Thane district basketball twice and played for his college at the Mumbai University Basketball Tournaments. He played handball for the Mumbai University Handball Team. Vishal is an ardent Iyengar Yoga practitioner and in addition to that he also does Crossfit, Callisthenic, Cycling and Running. He has secured 2nd and 3rd place consecutively in Fitness Physique Competition held at his college. Being the physical education teacher Vishal is responsible for planning, developing, delivering and evaluating appropriate individualized educational services, learning programs and instruction for special needs students in both self-contained and integrated setting in consultation with other school personnel.
Mr. Shibajee Das
Name: Mr. Shibajee Das
City: Delhi
Designation: Sports Writer
Organization: Sports Flashes
Work Experience: 2 years
Mr. Das currently works as a sports journalist for Sports Flashes, the official audio broadcast partner of Premier League in India and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). In 2019, he completed his Post-Graduation in English Journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi. He received a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in English literature from the North Bengal University at Siliguri. He has contributed in various lab journals during his time at IIMC. He has also attended British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) programme on Fake News. He has attended and contributed in the National Seminar on Indian languages. He participated in the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund’s (UNICEF) two-day workshop on Health Journalism, which was jointly organized by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in 2019.
Mr. Jeetu RaviKumar
Name: Mr. Jeetu Ravikumar
City: Bengaluru
Designation: Social Media Analyst
Organization: Engage Digital Partners
Work Experience: 2 years
Mr. Kumar is an intern with a sports media company for the past few months. Having managed social media for clients like Chelsea, Major League Baseball and an in house channel about Indian Football, he is well aware of the impact of media in this day and age. Having also worked in a startup, he is excited by the energy around new ventures and fast changing environments in media. He is an avid follower of sports, especially football and is well aware of the changing trends in sport around the world and is eager to make a mark for himself. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Software Engineering from Sichuan University, Chengdu in China where he was also able to interact and learn about sporting cultures across the world. With the growth of sport in India, he wants to facilitate and help in developing world class athletes.
Mr. Kanhay Kubal
Name: Mr. Kanhay Kubal
City: Mumbai
Designation: Business Development and Implementation Analyst
Organization: Samhita Social Ventures, Mumbai
Work Experience: 1 year
Mr. Kubal is currently working in a CSR Consulting firm where he is responsible for Business Development, leveraging partnerships with corporate and NGOs and ensuring effective implementation of the projects in diverse domains. Having done Gandhi Fellowship in a tribal district, he got hands on experience of how education is at the grassroots and likewise designed projects which could integrate sports into the mainstream education. He has been writing articles on sports since school wherein one of his articles on ‘Penalty Shots: Is it fair?’ got published in the Times of India Student Edition. Showcasing his skills in more than 12 sports at the Mumbai University, he won Gold medal in Table tennis, Silver medal in Softball and Bronze medal in Lawn Tennis. As a Junior Under Officer in National Cadet Corps, he was a member of the Mumbai A U-21 winning team at the Inter State Football Tournament.
Mr. Vinay Nair
Name: Mr. Vinay Nair
City: Mumbai
Designation: Key Account Manager
Organization: Paytm
Work Experience: 9 years
Mr. Nair is an MBA with extensive experience in the sales and marketing profile in various start-ups. He has showcased capability in developing institutional relationships as well as garnering repeat business from existing clients. While continuing to build on his competence to sustain his professional career, he has always held a strong interest in pursuing a career in sports. He has supplemented his interest by avidly following the sporting culture in India as well as keeping up with the global trends, and being able to have an opinion around the same. Having pursued multiple opportunities with various sports management agencies, he figured how he needs to complement his skill sets with better subject matter knowledge and started looking for avenues to learn the nuances of the industry. The FIFA CIES executive course will be an encouraging start to fuel Mr. Nair’s foray into the sports business arena by providing him a platform to improve his proficiency and further his social networking in the industry.