VIDEO: Budweiser 6v6 Cup Bangalore Regional Wrap

Here the Bangalore Regional Wrap of the Indian-leg of the Budweiser 6v6 with statements from ex-India captain Shanmugam Venkatesh and tournament participants.

South United FC name squad for 2nd Division I-League

Bangalore's South United FC have named their squad for the 2nd Division I-League with their matches to be played at the Bangalore Football Stadium. Ex-India international Raman Vijayan is their coach.

South United FC are in Group C alongside Mumbai Tigers (formerly Dodsal FC, Mumbai), Eagles FC (Kerala), Hindustan FC (Delhi), Kalighat Milan Sangha (Kolkata), Luangmual FC (Mizoram), Southern Samity (Kolkata), Vasco SC (Goa)


The club has recently signed former Mohun Bagan striker Pachau Lalam Puia from Chanmari FC, Mizoram; experienced Calcutta league player Abhishek Aich from Kolkata as well as Vinoth Kumar V. from Bangalore champions HAL SC.


SOUTH UNITED FC

Kaleel S.M., Harpreet Singh, Razakh, Gour Sankar Dutta, Barun Oraon, K. Shivakumar, Amit Raj Banshi, Jayantaraj Banshi, Rahul Sharma, Edwin Gosula, V.R. Murugappan, M. Madhukaran, Amoes, Manivannan R., Sunil Kumar M., A. Sridhar, Vignesh, Stephen, Subhash R., N. Solaimalai, Michael, Rajkiran P., B. Niroshan Mani, K. Gopi, Vinoth Kumar V., Abhishek Aich, Pachau Lalam Puia

Officials
Raman Vijayan (Coach)

Baichung Bhutia & Nirmal Lifestyle launch University Football League!

Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools and Nirmal Lifestyle have come together to announce the launch of India's first-ever University Football League yesterday in Mumbai.

The UFL will initially start across five cities — Mumbai, Kolkata, Kochi, Delhi and Bangalore with 16 colleges and universities from every city taking part in a league-cum-knockout format. Two teams from every city will then progress towards another round of football to determine the national winner.

The prize money for the winners is Rs. 1 Million (10 lakh) and the runners-up will take home Rs. 500,000 (5 lakh), while the total prize money will be around Rs. 2 Million (20 lakh).

For the UFL Baichung Bhutia's promoted BBFS have partnered with Nirmal Lifestyle Limited, a Real Estate Company with Italian sportswear company Diadora another parrner with an aim to expand the UFL to 20 cities by the fourth year.

The inaugural season is planned for October to December 2013 with the organisers hoping that the league becomes a scouting platform for India football clubs to source untapped talent, while also giving the university boys a chance to test their skills against their peers.

VIDEO: SportsMeet discussion on East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan fiasco

The seventh edition of the SportsMeet in Bangalore had 'Disrupted Derby, A Verdict, and the Beautiful Game' as its topic on Saturday, January 19: Here the video on the discussion on the verdict of the East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan fiasco which included ex-footballers Raman Vijayan and Noel Wilson plus journalist S.S. Shreekumar.

Dramatic end to inaugural Sunfeast Dream Cream Roots Football League in Bangalore!

At the inaugural Sunfeast Dream Cream Roots Football League, the Cheetah won the Under-11 championship in dramatic fashion after a penalty shootout with the Eagles after they drew their last Super League match which left both the teams tied on points and goal difference. The Eagles earlier made a superb comeback after being two goals down to restore parity in the match.

In the Under-13 age category the Sharks defeated Eagles in a see-saw match before the Sharks prevailed 2-1 to be crowned champions. In the Under-15 age category Cheetahs continued their fine form to take the title, defeating Lions and Rhinos in their last two Super League matches.

Former Indian international Noel Wilson, and V.L. Rajesh (Executive VP, Marketing and Exports, ITC Ltd. - Foods Division) were part of the presentation ceremony. Noel Wilson, while speaking to the players and parents urged the parents to encourage their kids to take up football as a sport. Krishanji Rao, former national assistant coach and Deputy Secretary of the KSFA, was also present to encourage this first of a kind junior league in Bangalore which saw the participation of around 180 kids in the 3 age categories.

RFL which kicked off last December had league matches being played every Sunday. The registered players were earlier distributed among teams based on skill assessments and age to ensure the teams are balanced. Another notable feature of RFL is parent's involvements as team coaches for the various teams, assisted by qualified coaches of Roots Football School.

The league initiated by Game On Sports Management, which runs after-school football training programmes for kids in partnership with Sunfeast which has always been proudly associated with sporting events of such nature – World 10K Marathon, Sunfeast Open, etc. RFL aspires to create a football movement among kids and parents – the League will encourage more children in the age group to play football, thus broadening the base of football in our community.


Brief Scores, League Standings and Individual Winners

Under-11: Super League Scores
1) Rhinos drew Sharks 2-2 (Rhinos: Riu -1, Yuvaraj P-1; Sharks Soham -1, Adit Nahar- 1)
2) Cheetahs def. Lions 4-2 (Cheetahs: Macarton 3, Saurabh 1; Lions: Ajay S -1, Shiu - 1)
3) Bisons def. Sharks 3-0 (Bisons: Rohaan- 1, Suman- 2)
4) Rhinos def Bisons 3-2 ( Rhinos:Neil -2,Yuvaraj P-1; Bisons: Gabriel-1, Suman-1)
5) Eagles def Lions 2-0 (Eagles: Nabeel-2)
6) Cheetahs drew Eagles (Cheetahs: Saurabh -2; Eagles; John S -2)

Final Standing: 1-Cheetahs, 2-Eagles, 3-Lions, 4-Rhinos, 5-Bisons, 6-Sharks

Individual Awards
Best Goalkeeper: Rhea Appachu (Eagles)
Best Defender: John S (Eagles)
Best Player: Raneesh Krishnan (Lions)
Highest Goal Scorer: Macartan Louis (Cheetahs)
Best Parent Coach: Nicky Appachu (Eagles)

Under-13: Super League Scores
1) Cheetahs def. Bisons 5-3 (Cheetahs:Aryan-3,Manoj-1,Srinivas-1; Biscons;Siddharth-2, Manav-1)
2) Rhinos def. Bisons 5-0 (Rhinos: Sharvana-3, Mario-1, Ved-1)
3) Sharks def. Lions 5-1 (Sharks: Rudra-3, Anish-1, Vimal-1; Lions: Shrikritt-1)
4) Sharks def. Eagles 2-1 (Sharks: Rudra-1, Vimal-1; Jathin Jaykumar-1)

Final Standing: 1-Sharks, 2-Eagles, 3-Lions, 4-Rhinos, 5-Cheetahs, 6-Bisons

Individual Awards
Best Goalkeeper: Mani (Eagles)
Best Defender: Ved Devaiah (Rhinos)
Best Player: Arun Kumar (Sharks)
Highest Goal Scorer: Rudra Ved Moola (Sharks); Sharvana V (Rhinos)
Best Parent Coach: Arinjoy Ghosh (Sharks)

Under-15: Super League Scores

1) Sharks drew with Bisons 1-1( Sharks: Ajith R-1; Bisons: Jairaj-1)
2) Bisons def. Eagles 6-1 (Bisons: Raghav Rao-4, Jairaj-1, Tapaswini-1)
3) Cheetahs def. Lions 4-1 (Cheetahs: Vikram S- 4; Lions: Deepu-1)
4) Rhinos def. Lions 1-0 ( Rhinos: Ranjith M-1)

Final Standing: 1-Cheetahs, 2-Rhinos, 3-Lions, 4-Bisons, 5-Sharks, 6-Eagles

Individual Awards
Best Goalkeeper: Steny Kiran (Cheetahs)
Best Defender: Rohan Shah (Cheetahs)
Best Player: Raghav Rao (Bisons)
Highest Goal Scorer: Vikram S (Cheetahs)
Best Parent Coach: P. Seshadri (Sharks)

Finale of Sunfeast Dream Cream Roots Football League in Bangalore tomorrow

The grand finale of the inaugural season of the Sunfeast Dream Cream Roots Football League for kids will be played tomorrow at the Mt. Carmel College ground at Vasanth Nagar ground, Bangalore from 10.30 am onwards with children playing in the Under-11, U-13 and U-15 category.

Six teams have played in each category in a 5-A-Side format. Around 200 kids had registered for the inaugural league, which is first of a kind junior league in Bangalore. Earlier weeks witnessed skill assessments session based on the age of the registered players. Later the players were distributed among teams ensuring a balanced composition.

Each team in RFL has distinct names - Bisons, Cheetahs, Eagles, Lions, Rhinos, and Sharks. Teams have their own team colours to develop identity among kids with their teams.

Parents' involvement as team coaches for various teams is another notable feature of Sunfeast Dream Cream Roots Football League. Each coach is ably assisted by qualified coaches of Roots Football School.

All the teams played against each other in a round robin format followed by a Super League among the top three teams and the next three teams to decide the final standings.

The league initiated by Game On Sports Management, which runs after-school football training programmes for kids in partnership with Sunfeast which has always been proudly associated with sporting events of such nature – World 10K Marathon, Sunfeast Open, etc.

RFL aspires to create a football movement among kids and parents – the League will encourage more children in the age group to play football, thus broadening the base of football in our community.

SportsMeet-Bangalore, October Edition on October 13!

The fifth edition of the SportsMeet in Bangalore has Sports Journalism as its topic and it will be held from 2 pm onwards on Saturday, October 13 at the Central Block, 3rd Floor, Christ University on Hosur Road, Bangalore.

SportsMeet - Bangalore is a platform where the sports professionals (athletes, coaches, physios, managers, and so on), sports business, sport enthusiast, and sports management aspirants network, discuss, and collaborate.

SportsMeet is ideal for companies who run their business on Sports – developing grassroot athletes to providing sport infrastructure to schools or managing athletes, looking for a consortium of sorts where they can network, integrate, interact.

The main event will be followed by networking and snack party.


Here the Agenda

14:00 - 14:30: Registration and Networking
14:30 - 14:45: Demo from Game On Sports Management (Roots Sports) – A Sports Management company, organizing and promoting Sports
14:45 - 15:30: Evolution of Sports Journalism – Kalyan Ashok, Senior Sports Editor at the Hindu
15:30 - 15:45: Demo from SportsKeeda.com – website, largest sports writers network
15:45 - 16:00: Demo from One Thousand Hockey Legs – An NGO promoting Field Hockey at the grass root level
16:00 - 16:30: Snacks and Networking


Those interested to attend the SportsMeet on Saturday please contact Subhajyoti Banerjee (9008299122). There is a registration fee of Rs 100 for the event.

SportsMeet-Bangalore, September Edition on Giving back to Sports!

The September edition of SportsMeet - Bangalore witnessed intriguing talks by Arjuna awardee Reeth Abraham, representatives from EduSports, b'Twin - Decathlon, and The Fans of Hockey.

Winner of several medals in both national and international level, athlete Reeth Abraham, ventured into the main agenda of this edition - Giving back to Sports. She, very articulately explained the need of former sportsperson or people with proper knowledge and experience of sports to occupy important positions in the sports organizations. She went on to explain that due to several reasons, this has not been the case in India. Some of these reasons stem from the fact that majority of Indian sportsmen were ‘created' from poor or rural background as they saw sports as an opportunity to get a government job and now due to their lack of education and exposure, they hesitate to get into administration jobs.

Reeth is a part of Clean Sports India movement, which aims to create an environment wherein former sportsperson can manage local level clubs, state level associations and national level federations. She emphasized on the fact that most of the bureaucrats and politicians who run sports bodies generally tend to have very limited knowledge of sports and often turn out to be corrupt. Clean Sports India comes as a unique forum where all Indian sportsperson can come together and raise their voice.

Reeth added that one needs to have passion for sports and not necessarily be a top level sportsperson to contribute for the development of sports in our country. She also talked about inculcating a sporting culture in India, making physical exercise a habit; a way to keep us fit.

Earlier, the event was started by Dr. Gautam Mukherjee, from EduSports, a company which aims to provide a more holistic education by involving school students into physical education in a more structured and planned way. The basic mantra of the company is to make sports and Physical Education (PE) accessible to all kids, not necessarily to make them champions in sports, but rather to make them champions in life. He explained how sports not only keeps the body fit, but also imbibes lessons of life like leadership, teamwork, and so on.

The current physical education programs in schools are inadequate to provide opportunities for all kids and lack the systematic assessment tools like in the case of other subjects. The focus is on developing champions and medal winners, which sidelines non-exceptional but interested kids. EduSports' curriculum makes sure that any kid who is interested in participation can participate. Furthermore, he emphasized that assessment of PE teachers should not only be on how many champions they have produced but also on how many kids have they been able to involve into sports. With more involvement into sports we can hope to have a fitter and healthier generation.

21 year old Rachan Singh gave a very energetic talk about the wide array of cycle services from brand b'Twin and the other range of products available in Decathlon. Given that Bangalore has now become a cycling hub and interest in cycling is growing, he focused his talk mainly on cycling and showed variety of cycles provided by them. The main advantage of Decathlon is that they recommend the products based on need and purpose, furthermore, one can try and test them first and only then proceed to buy. He also mentioned about the opportunities of working in Decathlon, where passion for sports is the chief criteria, certificates hardly matter.

The last talk was by Manoj Mahala who runs a hockey fan website, thefansofhockey.com. Manoj, a research student, with help of friends and well-wishers has developed this website, which not only provides news of Indian hockey events but also directly covers some of the hockey events. He told about his website and how the current form of the website has evolved from its initial humble beginnings. Also, The Fans of Hockey provides a huge collection of fantastic photographs, some of which he displayed during his presentation.

In between the talks, SportsMeet's Naveen Ningaiah, kept on chipping in with interesting and useful information about the speakers as well as some of the happenings around. He introduced run Arun run, a unique ultra-distance running initiative by 43 year old Arun Bhradwaj, ( http://www.facebook.com/runarunrun ) aiming to run from Kargil to Kanyakumari in 60 days, starting from October 1 2012.

SportsMeet also compiled a presentation on job opportunities in sports, aiming to benefit some section of the audience. After the talks, the networking session commenced over tea and snacks.

VIDEO - News9: Bryan Robson speaks about Man Utd, Indian talent & more...

In another interview with News 9 TV former Manchester United captain and now brand ambassador Bryan Robson spoke about the Red Devils, the talent in India and much more...

VIDEO - IBN: Bryan Robson speaks about Man Utd, India & more...

Former Manchester United captain and now brand ambassador Bryan Robson is in Bangalore for the finale of the first season of the 'Airtel Rising Stars' program to pick 12 Indian Under-16 boys to visit Manchester United. Bryan speaks about the Red Devils, India and much more to CNN-IBN...

SportsMeet-Bangalore, September Edition on September 15!

The fourth edition of the SportsMeet in Bangalore will be held from 2 pm onwards on Saturday, September 15 at the Central Block, 3rd Floor, Christ University on Hosur Road, Bangalore. The aim of SportsMeet - Bangalore is to promote and learn about Indian Sports at an informal monthly gathering for sports professionals, sports businesses, and students aspiring for a career in sports.

This time Arjuna awardee and international athlete Reeth Abraham will be the main speaker. Reeth would share her experience on exploring various ways of giving back to sports. Also the organisers have lined-up several sports entrepreneurs, managers, and passionate folks in this session, which should definitely engage all the sport enthusiasts which will include Demo sessions from Edusports – providing holistic education through sports, Bangalore Youth Football League and The Fans of Hockey.

The main event will be followed by networking and snack party.


Here the Agenda

14:00 - 14:30: Registration and Networking
14:30 - 14:45: Demo from EduSports – providing holistic education through sports
14:45 - 15:30: Giving back to Sports – Reeth Abraham, International Athlete, Arjuna Awardee
15:30 - 15:45: Demo from Bangalore Youth Football League – by Adhip Bandari
15:45 - 16:00: Demo from The Fans of Hockey – by Manoj Mahala
16:00 - 16:30: Snacks and Networking


Those interested to attend the SportsMeet on Saturday please contact Subhajyoti Banerjee (9008299122).

Interview with Lokknath R. Char (South United FC, Bangalore)

A few weeks ago South United FC was launched as a new professional football club in Bangalore by Mumbai-based Lokko Sports India Pvt. Ltd. I caught-up with Lokko Sports CEO Lokknath R. Char to speak about South United FC and the owners aim for the club and Indian football.


Congratulations on the formation of South United FC! Why SUFC and why did you chose Bangalore as your base when your company is based in Mumbai?

The name South United was created to signify our determination to be the most loved team first in Bangalore, Karnataka, then all over the Southern India region. The Indian (national football) team has in the past been benefited by the fantastic talent of Southern Footballers - Raman Vijayan, I.M. Vijayan, Carlton Chapman, S. Venkatesh, N.S. Manju these guys have performed and served the country so well and all this with arguably private and big teams with lot of hope coming in and going out. We want this to be the team of the South and while we do not want to make any promises but we are here to stay and here to stay for a very very long time.

On our travels to Bangalore for work we started noticing the growing passion for football there matched by the lack of any private teams. Also the large expat population coupled with it being a city growing with wealth and much better Sporting infrastructure then other metros particularly Mumbai along with the fact that Mumbai has 4 teams and Bangalore no private team. So hence we thought better now before someone else wakes up to the idea.


How has the response been so far after announcing the launch of the club?

To be honest a lot of excitement and curiosity about who we are (because we are quite a secretive bunch) and like you rightly asked why now in Indian football and why Bangalore. But what the heart drives can't have much logic. At the same time there have been some sceptics in the press largely due to the fact that teams have come with a bang in the South and gone. Also some people think our ideas are a little idealistic so that has raised eyebrows, which is fair, until we achieve and prove ourselves the questions have every right to be asked.

On a more lighter a note, our pink jerseys got a few blushes and squirms as well, but that just shows we are doing things differently.


What do you aim to achieve in Indian football?

The two main aims are to get the Indian (national football) team into the World Cup by helping them with a great bunch of talent. The second is to create employment within the sporting industries for our youngsters.

See one of the biggest reasons why India has not done well in sports over the years is because our best sports persons leave the sport at a certain age when the pressures and burdens of managing expenses and contributing to their family income, take over. Also India is largely an academically inclined population, by that I mean sports and other extra curricular activities such as art, music and crafts are not given as much importance both in society and in schools. So sometimes or to be honest often kids who are good in things apart from academics but weak at academics are not given enough support and buckle under pressure from guardians and peers. This sometimes leaves these talented individuals with low self esteem. We need to change that by showing them that life can be good and fruitful in other industries too.

Hence through this club and through our network of soccer schools and other related activities we would like to pay for footballers, coaches and managers to do what they love and what they do best that is sport!


What are the aims for this season for South United FC?

Our aim is to put up a good show and bring a trophy in. Also there is a certain type of play we want to create, maybe this season you probably will see a glimpse of it, but once these players play together more it will be more visible. Also we want to ensure our base and our scouting pool is strong so this year we will also put our efforts towards spreading our soccer schools, we already have started one in Raiwala and Mumbai and soon we will launch in Bangalore and other areas surrounding Mumbai.


Anything else you want to tell the readers?

I just want to say, we are quite an approachable bunch, so come to us with your thoughts, views and suggestions. Support us, make noise for us and at the same time get involved with the game. Then unless and until there is a collective movement with strong investment and fan support, the sport will remain a potential!

SportsMeet-Bangalore, August Edition a success

The third edition of SportsMeet - Bangalore was the most engaging and attended edition so far. The SportsMeet August event of How to kick-start your sports venture attracted a number of entrepreneurs, management students and sports enthusiasts.

Vishal Gupta used his venture Sports365 as a model to give the audience an insight about How to kick start your sports venture. With a vision of building and fostering the spirit of sports and fitness activities in the country, Sports365 aims in making sports viable and sustainable for the masses. As an e-commerce venture for sports equipments, consumables and infrastructure, Vishal Gupta started Sports365 along with Tennis maestro Mahesh Bhupathi as Director and Chandra Sekhar Reddy. However, with time they also went also started offline marketing. One of their specialties includes 'consultative selling' where the products are provided to the consumer after a discussion on their requirements. Sports365 is aiming high with a long term goal of providing a support system for young and unknown talents and roping in some popular sporting figures in the company.

Earlier, the event kickstarted with TENVIC representative Shruti Venkat. TENVIC, co-founded in 2011 by legendary cricketer Anil Kumble, strategist and entrepreneur Dinesh Kumble, and international Table-tennis player Vasanth Bharadwaj, with a vision to develop a sporting ecosystem and culture in India, whereby every Indian is involved in sports.

They have initiated work at multiple levels
- Grassroot: reaching out and training young talents in schools
- Lessons from Sports: using the knowledge gained from sportsmen to train people of other professions
- Sports branding: finding new avenues to reach customers and brand sportsmen and Sports retail

At the moment they have focused on Cricket, Table-tennis, Chess and Badminton. At grassroot level, they have been able to start programs in various schools, mainly in Southern India and the National Capital Region. The programs contents are created by reputed players for each disciplines and kids who have shown promise are given opportunities of intensive training with their coaches to take their talent to the next level.

They have also used the experience of sportsmen in areas like 'pressure handling' and conducted training programs for people of different professions. TENVIC harbors in-house coaches, mentors and psychologists for their programs.

The talks moved into the highly interesting and much lesser known area of Barefoot running. Sharath Raju spoke about his venture HighLine, which specializes not only in providing footwear for barefoot running but also training sessions.

Sharath explained, briefly, about the biology and mechanics involved in jogging and running and how the traditional shoes are inadequate to cater a healthy and injury free way of doing so. They also maintain Vivobarefoot training clinic, which trains the consumers on the correct and injury free ways of barefoot running.

This presentation along with Vishal Gupta's talk also showed how online marketing has really grown successfully in India.

The talks ended with a presentation on Sportz Divas, an initiative by Anuradha. Sportz Divas aims to promote the achievements of Women athletes in India. Anuradha herself is a national-level gymnast and the only Indian woman to have participated in the Fitness Championships in Las Vegas. Also, she has a sports management degree from Switzerland. And apart from that, interestingly, she is a dentist!

Anuradha made a point about how most sportswomen in India come from a rural and poor background, thus unable to promote themselves. Many women athletes, despite winning medals in national and international competitions are struggling economically. Sportz Divas reaches out such women athletes and tries to formulate ways to promote them and discover their brand value.

The event ended with the networking session, where the participants discussed different matters and collaborations with the speakers over coffee and snacks. Interestingly, some of the participants were from outside of Bangalore. Overall the event was a success and organizers are happy that SportsMeet is catching up fast with more and more people showing interest.

SportsMeet-Bangalore, August Edition on August 18!

The third edition of the SportsMeet in Bangalore will be held from 3.30 pm onwards on Saturday, August 18 at the Central Block, 3rd Floor, Christ University on Hosur Road, Bangalore. The aim of SportsMeet is to promote and learn about Indian Sports at an informal monthly gathering for sports professionals, sports businesses, and students aspiring for a career in sports.

The organisers have several sports management and entrepreneurs lined-up for the event this month. This should definitely excite the business management students, enthusiast professionals who are keen to make sports as a career, and off-course the sports lovers who are eager to know the other aspects of sports.

For the event on August 18, the have lined up several sports management and entrepreneurs - Demo sessions from Tenvic Sports, an initiative by Anil Kumble; High Line Retail, one-of-a-kind destination for Athletic & Lifestyle upgrades; Sportz Divas, a sports company supporting sportswomen; and a talk on how to Kick start your Sports venture from Vishal, co-founder at sports365.in .


Here the Agenda

15:30 - 16:00: Registration and Networking
16:00 - 16:20: Demo from Tenvic Sports – an initiative by Anil Kumble
16:20 - 16:50: Kick start your Sports venture – Vishal Gupta, CEO & Co-founder at sports365.in
16:50 - 17:15: Demo from High Line Retail (Vivo Barefoot Brand) – one-of-a-kind destination for Athletic & Lifestyle upgrades
17:15 - 17:30: Demo from Sportz Divas – a sports company supporting sportswomen
17:30 - 18:00: Networking


Those interested to attend the SportsMeet on Saturday please contact Subhajyoti Banerjee (9008299122) or Naveen Ningaiah (9611240132).

2012 Kingfisher Corporate 5s starts in September

The 12th edition of the Kingfisher Corporate 5s, which is a five a-side Futsal tournament for corporate India, will be held across five cities from September 2012 onwards. Bangalore-based sports management company SPT India will once again organise the Kingfisher Corporate 5s in the cities of Bangalore, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.

Those corporate teams interested to play in the tournament will have to pay an entry fee to participate. For a new Men's team that fee is Rs 16,000 +taxes, for a Men's team which has previously participated it is Rs 14,500 +taxes and for Women's teams it is Rs 10,000 +taxes.


The dates for three of the venues have been released

Bangalore: September 1/2

New Delhi: September 22/23

Mumbai: October 13/14

The dates for Hyderabad and Pune will be released later.


For more details contact the organisers under info@sptindia.com !

SportsMeet - Bangalore: Engaging, educative, and interactive

The second event of SportsMeet - Bangalore turned out to be an engaging, educative, and interactive affair. In the Christ College venue, many athletes, students, sports-related professionals came to network with the reach of SportsMeet grew stronger.

Chitra Gangadharan, a former goalkeeper of the Indian Women's football team, who has been a captain and has represented the 1977-78 Asian All Star team gave insights of how sports is an important factor of women's development.

Chitra mentioned that apart from the general benefits of fitness, sports help women gain in confidence, equality, and outer world exposure which is lacking in large sections of our society. Her talk touched upon various factors from social outlook to government bias towards women.

Chitra's good humoured talk contained many real life anecdotes from her playing and coaching experiences which made it more engaging. Also, she emphasized that not only th government but corporates need to support women athletes if we want see women take-up sports seriously and respectfully.

Earlier, the event started with a demonstration by Abhishek Srinivas of Krossover, a New York-based company who specialize in developing tools for sports analytics with emphasis on extracting statistics from match videos.

Two time IRONMAN Dipankar Paul shared his experience of the world’s best known Triathlon events (http://ironman.com/). Dipankar's inspirational achievements awed the audience when he described his exploits of an event which requires 3.4km of swimming, followed by 180 km Biking and ends with 42 km of running. The achievements look impressive as Dipankar is not a professional athlete and started cycling and swimming few years earlier, with a proper training only 15 days before the event.

Sudhir Menon, the Editor-in-Chief of the new sports magazine Scoreline, introduced the magazine to the audience, explaining his motivation of starting a sports magazine in India. Influenced by the sports coverage culture of Italy, where magazines and newspapers dedicated only to sports are staple for everyday life, he would one day like to see the same in India too and Scoreline is just a beginning.

The talks finished with a candid and poignant account of the struggle faced by physically challenged sportsmen in India. Vijay Kant Tiwari, a member of Indian cricket team for physically challenged, which toured in Pakistan talked about his experience of touring Pakistan and the lack of support for cricketers like him in the country.

Vijay's Pakistan tour had been an amazing experience where he had been thoroughly impressed by the warm welcome of the host nation. His experiences back home, however, are far from impressive. Even after his triumphant Pakistan tour, the team had been neglected by large sections of the Indian media and the team remains unknown to masses. Vijay ended his talk by saying that at the moment physically challenged cricketers need support rather than sympathy.

After the talks, the participants interacted during the networking sessions which went on for quite sometime, giving a platform for meeting of minds and new proposals and opportunities.

KGF Sports Academy win Bangalore Super Division title!

The KGF Sports Academy yesterday afternoon won their first-ever Bangalore Super Division title by beating Army Service Corps 3-2 in their final league match at the Bangalore Football Stadium. KGF finished on 22 points after nine matches, two points ahead of I-League relegated HAL SC in the 2012 edition of the top tier Bangalore city league.

KGF were cruising after the first session, leading 3-0 through goals from Murugappan (4th), Amoes (41st) and Stephen (42nd); but late in the match things got interesting with Jotin Singh (79th, 90+4) scoring a brace for ASC but that was too little, too late.

The KGF Sports Academy is the renamed BEML (EM) who are the only public sector unit (PSU) run football team in India, who so far have professionalised under the AFC Club Licensing criteria and due to this initiative by the company management also play in the 2nd Division I-League.

The team is coached by former India striker Raman Vijayan, who told the Deccan Herald newspaper after the title triumph, "We had a well organised team that gelled well. Players from various places came and performed which was good to watch, the management was also very supportive. I appreciate the players for helping me throughout the season!"

Where will Team India hold its pre-Nehru Cup camp?

The first Team India camp under new national coach Wim Koevermans is set to kick-off in a couple of weeks on July 27, but where is currently the big question then the shown facilities in New Delhi were not to the liking of Koevermans and now the AIFF is scouting for alternative training facilities within the country.

This brings me back to something that former India coach Bob Houghton used to say that India lacks the necessary training facilities to prepare a senior national team for an international competition and therefore he was forced to organise training camps in Portugal, Spain and Dubai.

With the Nehru Cup set to be played from August 23 to September 2 in New Delhi the capital was the preferred choice for the preparatory and selection camp, but the Ambedkar Stadium isn't in shape and will host a parade for Independence Day on August 15, the Nehru Stadium practice ground and other facilities also didn't meet the expectations.

Now venues in Bangalore, Jamshedpur, Gurgaon and the JCT Academy in Hoshiarpur are being considered as potential options, then now planning and going abroad doesn't make sense especially with local India conditions to be there at the Nehru Cup.

One will have to wait and see what solution the AIFF comes-up with...

SportsMeet-Bangalore, July Edition: Chitra Gangadharan (ex-Footballer)

A guest and speaker for the July edition of SportsMeet-Bangalore will be Chitra Gangadharan, a former Indian national football women's team captain, an Asian All-Star Player, and also a National Coach.

In the country of Cricket and IPL, seldom a sportswoman gets internationally recognized barring a few like P.T. Usha and Saina Nehwal. The chance is more bleak in the case of the poor man's game football. Amidst all this, Chitra has carved a niche for herself in the sports arena.

Chitra became a footballer by mere accident. She represented Karnataka in the Women's National Football championship at Lucknow in 1975 and since then she carried on representing country and state for almost a decade.

Chitra if fully committed to football – right from completing a Diploma course from the National Institute of Sports, holds an 'A' license and Goalkeeper coaching course from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), as a qualified referee to coaching several youth development teams, state senior Women's team, and senior Women's national team.

Her association with SAI, Bangalore has been for many years and currently she also coaches an 'A' Division team.

On Saturday, July 21 at the Christ University at the SportsMeet-Bangalore, Chitra Gangadharan will be connecting with us on the significance and ways to encourage women in participating in Sports in India and how the talented sportswomen loving the game yet failing to sustain it at the highest level.

Ensure you register for this event under

Blog: http://sportsmeet.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SportsMeet

Bangalore's HAL SC to organise open trials on Saturday

Relegated I-League side Hindustan Aeronautics Limited SC will hold open trials for their senior team on Saturday, June 23 at their HAL Sports Complex from 08.00 IST onwards.

After relegation from the I-League's top tier HAL under new Technical Director H. Chandrashekar is in rebuilding mode after most of their contracted players have left the club for other clubs across the country.

The new club management is hoping to unearth and find new talent as they want to focus on local Bangalore talent, but players from across India are invited to attend the trials.


Trial Details

Venue: HAL Sports Complex, Bangalore
Date: June 23, 2012
Time: 08:00 a.m. onwards

Contact Persons: Subash Kumar (72594-98703), U. Babu (99454-72706)