Future Sports Foundation is an organization started by two young advertising professionals to promote sports in the suburbs of Mumbai. The foundation is headed by Mr. P.M.Balakrishna, an experienced Media professional and Mr. Robert Somraj Joseph, an advertising professional with Mcann Erickson, one of India’s leading advertising agencies.
Mr. Robert Somraj Joseph & P.M.Balakrishna are also members of Chembur Gymkhana. While Mr.P.M.Balakrishna is an active sportsman having won Bronze medals in the National Games for Handball & Badminton, Mr. Robert Somraj is a keen footballer besides being a good athlete .
Future Sports Foundation is an organisation promoting sports in the suburbs with a mission to nurture future talent, spotting young upcoming sportsmen and to provide them with specialized training in order to allow them to compete in national/international events with a greater degree of confidence.
The focus of the foundation is multifold & based on a long term vision towards promoting sports.
Phase I
In the first phase of the vision it is the objective of the foundation to lay the base for a series of events which would look to identify
talent at the local level. We firmly believe that it is critical to leverage the local infrastructure available & make it accessible to the local sportspersons.
This will help the gymkhanas to identify talent & also serve as a
support system for the sportspersons, who otherwise have to travel long distances for basic practice. It is also an opportunity for the Gymkhana & clubs to promote local talent & gain a sport person who would be able to represent them in competitions.
Phase II
In the second phase of the vision the focus would be on providing advance & high level training to those sportsperson showing potential to win medals at the district /state level competitions. The way we would like to approach this complex issue is to closely work with select sponsors who understand that particular sport & are willing to commit to the growth of the sportsperson based on performances that would be continuously monitored.
It would be the responsibility of the Foundation to ensure that
maximum no of children are able to get the benefit of this approach
bound by the basic principle of incentive based on performance.This will ensure that the sportsperson would feel secure in the pursuit of excellence in their chosen sports & yet are aware of the need to stay focused on their performances. The Foundation is already in discussion with sponsors at various levels & is confident of convincing them to back this effort.
Another key area where Foundation has ambitious plans is the area of coaching & providing proper guidance to the Sportspersons. Over the last few years after studying the coaching schemes being conducted by various institutions across the world , we have realized that some standards need to be set for the level of coaching provided and levels should be raised for good results.
This is a critical area where a lot of work needs to be done at the grass root level. Unless there is high standard of coaching at the basic level there is a danger of good talent being lost due to lack of understanding by the coach. It is important to note that while there are a many good coaches who have been good sports persons there are not many qualified coaches who have undergone specific training in aspects of this critical area of the development of a sports person. The foundation is in the process of setting up a panel of experienced coaches & eminent sport persons from various disciplines to train existing coaches & interested sportspersons. This would identify a certified training process that would put the potential coaches under rigorous training & expose them to various techniques used by top level coaches. They would then be certified to train based on the level of expertise attained & would be monitored on a continuous basis.
The whole objective of this exercise is to ensure that the system of coaching is held accountable & that the children are not exploited by unscrupulous person who have no or very little experience in coaching. This would also enable the various institution promoting sports at the local level to evaluate their coaching schemes & provide trained coaches for children in their schemes besides providing good sportspersons an alternate career backed by proper knowledge.
The Foundation is committed to promoting sports & working at the grass root level across all aspects of sports promotion - be it Competitions, Sports seminars (Parents & Children) or Coaching Schemes for various sports.
The Foundation has already started some pioneering work in the suburbs with the support of the Chembur Gymkhana & is promoting Table Tennis under the guidance of Shri Kamlesh Mehta. A summer camp was conducted for children & the response has been encouraging enough to now look at regular training for them.
Over 125 children participated in the Cricket camp conducted by the Future Sports Foundation for the Chembur Gymkhana & have been put under rigorous training. The focus has been on providing an opportunity for all the children in the camp to hone their skills & also play matches at regular intervals.
