I have been travelling from India to the United
States for the past 10 years and typically the primary objective of each trip
is to spend time with family and share the Indian sports story with US based
sports organizations. While my schedule
during these trips is always packed full of countless meetings and mini-excursions,
somehow each sojourn back to the country of my childhood provides me with a
re-charge fuelled by the knowledge that I am uniquely positioned to connect the
East and West through sport and the constant validation that I made the right decision
to move to India nearly 10 years ago.
This last trip was extraordinary. Personally, I
was able to bask in the warmth of family love and the California sun over a few
days spent in the majestic mountains, tranquil vineyards and the clear-blue ocean
all located within a 2 hour drive of my Huntington Beach, California home. There is nothing more special than celebrating
life with loved ones and, even though I live thousands of miles away from my immediate
family, it always feels like no time has passed when we get together. Professionally,
I was able to have productive conversations with some of the biggest individuals
and influencers within the US sports industry as well as a few of the top
sports management education program providers in the country.
of my meetings however I will share a few observations & insights that came
out of my entire of experience of creating partnership and programming opportunities
in India with some of the top US based sports executives:
now education) somehow allows me to earn the respect of everyone I meet while I
am back in the states – this respect ensures that people create windows in their
calendars for our meetings and are incredibly generous with their time when I
visit their offices
Story – As I was
meeting Owners, Presidents, CEOs and other executives of sports organizations
and educational institutions, it was critical that I craft and deliver a story
about the growth of the Indian sports industry, one that they could appreciate
and easily grasp – this is always better than leaning on facts and figures to
tell the whole story of a sector that is unfamiliar to the person sitting across the table
in the US as a Foreigner is Challenging – I spent quality time with a number of Indian
citizens who are currently in the US exploring professional opportunities
within the sports industry. Unfortunately due to the tight immigration policies
and an over-supply of American sports management graduates, it is extremely
difficult for a non-US citizen to secure a job within a US sports organization
which is creating tension for many of these individuals who aspire to remain in
the states post securing their graduate degrees
Americans in Senior Management Positions within the US Sports Industry than
Ever Before – I remember
back in 2003 when I joined Major League Soccer, it felt that Sunil Gulati and I
were the only 2 Indians working in the US sports industry – times have changed though as during this past trip alone, I had meetings with 10 Indian Americans
who all hold senior positions with some of the biggest sports organizations in the
country
Kabaddi – While people
in the states know about IPL and ISL due to cricket and football’s global reach,
respectively, what was amazing was how many people wanted me to talk about Kabaddi’s
growth from a rural game to a commercial success in India – another validation
that people enjoy hearing about interesting case studies even if the
subject matter isn’t directly relevant to their worlds
organization has some presence in India and, based on this last trip, I don’t
think that we are too far away from making this dream a reality.
work on the ground here in India…
