Sportido supports the importance of developing a sporting culture in schools

Sportido mobile app that helps users connect with like-minded players, book sporting facilities and discover a range of sporting & fitness activities, aims to take forward a strong sporting culture in schools in India, ahead of Children’s Day, November 14, 2016. Schools work as a ground where interest in sport originates for students and hence, education institutes play a key role in identifying and encouraging sporting talent that contributes into the overall development of sports in India.

As per a report by KPMG^[1] on Business of Sports in India, globally the sports sector is estimated to be worth US$ 480-620 billion. In India, sport is yet to be recognized as a sector and there is no comprehensive study on the industry’s estimated size in the country. A report by McKinsey^[2] states that the government’s annual spend on sport is US$ 180 million that shall increase to US$ 500 million ahead of 2024 Olympic Games. But, in order to bring about a substantial change to the sporting industry in India it is essential to change the mindset of parents & schools with regard to sports and focus on inculcating an interest in sports among children from a young age.

Currently in India, sport has limited acceptance as a viable career path. Parents and teachers generally focus on excellence in academics of their children rather than inculcating a habit of spending time on the playing field.

Sport is a combination of physical fitness, skill levels, aptitude and mental resilience, leading up to abilities like teamwork, community representation, persistence, risk-taking and social relationship building among students that will help them in the long run. While most schools realize the power sport has to build character of students, they often lack the time, resources and infrastructure to scale-up the interest in the said activities.

Apps like Sportido are bringing about a new-age wave of sports & fitness in India by redefining the concept of how people engage with these activities. Gone are the days when people were limited to their inner circle when it came to engaging in a sport. Sportido can help create an entire sports ecosystem for users by bringing in players, places, events and discussions under one roof and providing an end-to-end technological and social solutions for those who seek to engage in sports & fitness activities. 

“Education institutes can explore a range of sporting facilities in their vicinity via the Sportido app and collaborate with them to suit customized sporting needs of their students. For example, a school may have a football ground but may not have a lawn tennis court. In such a case, the school can collaborate with a lawn tennis facility around their area to cater to the students interested in the sport. Presently, we have a base of about 160 partnerships and over 1200 service providers across Delhi NCR to choose sports & fitness facilities from,” says Vishal Lunia, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Sportido. “We at Sportido have committed ourselves for a better future for sports in India,” he added.