Ever wondered how your life would have turned out if you had focused on that sport you love? You have probably seen your peers sacrifice a possible career in the sport they love for a more ‘secure’ field. We are often told that sport is a hobby and never a career choice. But the time is ripe for change in that perception.
The sport industry is one of the fastest growing industries, not only in the world, but also in India. The number of sporting leagues in India is into double digits now with a league in every single sport from cricket and football to boxing and kabaddi.
Growing need
In 2008, the Indian Premier League (IPL) — a merge of the big money National Football League (NFL) in the U.S. and the popular English Premier League (EPL) in the U.K. — debuted on the Indian television screens. This marked the rapid rise of the sport industry in India.
The growing number of sporting leagues in the country has led to a demand for domain experts of sports. Just like any business organisation, a sports organisation needs employees with various skills – accountancy and finance, human resource management, marketing and sales, economics, and statistical analysis. A majority of the employees in most of the Indian teams, be it like Royal Challengers Bengaluru (IPL) or Kerala Blasters (Indian Super League) or Jaipur Pink Panthers (Pro Kabbadi League) are from a business background.
Specialised courses
The rise of sport in the West has led to sport-related degrees at undergraduate, postgraduate, and higher levels. Hence, there is a steady supply of individuals who specialise in each of the aforementioned strands for the sport and leisure industry specifically to meet the demand. That demand is not being met in India. This has perhaps got to do with the reluctance to identify sport as a major career and the lack of sport-related courses in India. Your path into the sport industry has to begin from either a sport management or sport science degree – both of which are extremely popular in Europe, North America and Australia.
A sport management degree focuses on the business strands of sports and includes subjects such as micro economics, macro economics, marketing, sociology of sport, sports organisations and their management, sports governing bodies and their policy making, human resource management in the leisure sector, accountancy for managers, sport law and many more.
To put it simply,a sports management degree is a business management degree, with the subjects being taught in a sport-specific manner. Sport management graduates end up with roles in event management, sports agency, sports marketing, and sport governing bodies, besides others. This not only means you work closely with something you are passionate about but also perhaps get the opportunity to work with teams and league you have grown up watching.
A sport science degree focuses on the science of sport, as the name suggests. This degree includes subjects such as physiology, teaching and coaching, sociology, pedagogy, biomechanics, nutrition, sport psychology, motor control, etc. This degree requires you to have a science background in your school. Sport science graduates work as physiotherapists, psychologists, and nutritionists for either sport teams or organisations that support sport teams.
Biomechanics and motor control enable you to analyse sport in depth. For example, you could analyse the change in action for a bowler in order to generate more pace or reduce the risk of injury. A sport science graduate can also work alongside his/her degree to attain coaching and refereeing licences, with many universities providing plenty of support for the same.
Choose right
The contributions of EPL to the U.K.’s economy, the NFL to the U.S. and even the IPL to India is only getting greater with time. They are providing economies of scale with employment to thousands of workers both full-time and part-time. With sport as a full-fledged industry, it is expected that it can produce from one to five per cent of a country’s GDP. Certainly, it’s a great time to get into the sport industry.
Lastly, whichever university you choose, check the the global ranking of the university, and go through the media and other reviews by the current and past students. If possible, attend the open days at the university which are conducted for the students and parents.
The writer is a II-year Sport Management student at Loughborough University, U.K.