Sports education will increase professionalism in the sector

Academic Iain Martin on why studying sports management helps in streamlining one's passion and paves path for a successful career
Sports is one of the common passions that connects India and Australia. Despite the craze for sports, streamlined sports education is still at a nascent stage in India. With the sports sector expanding as an industry, the demand for qualified professionals is on a rise.Students are looking towards Australia for sports related courses offered at its universities.
Professor Iain Martin, vice chancellor of Deakin University hopes to see an increased focus on sports education in India, where enthusiasm for cricket is unprecedented but the stress on sports education is limited.
"India and Australia are both sports loving countries. It is no longer just restricted as a mode of recreation, but has grown into a multi-dimensional business. Looking beyond cricket, there are multitude of sports such as football, basketball, badminton and more that are blossoming. This has led to an increase in demand for sports management professionals," said Martin, while talking to Education Times.
Unlike many other sectors identified in the India Economic Strategy 2035, India already looks to Australia as a model in sports for achieving results. Supporting India's sports agenda can help Australia entrench positive relationships with Indian governments and businesses. DeakinCo., a business-to-business focussed division of Deakin University, will be jointly designing and delivering several sports-related training courses.
Sports Marketing course, set for launch in February 2020, will initially be offered at two levels -foundation and advanced. The other key features of the collaboration is a 100% mega scholarship provided to a deserving Indian student for studies in a course in sport at Deakin University in Australia with an objective to use the knowledge and experience to give back to the society.
"With the expansion of new digital media, several new sports are being exposed to a bigger population. So, we see an explosion of professional sport projected to the world which requires excellent sports management," Martin added. "Deakin is working in partnership with Indian colleges.
The intent is to increase the expertise into the Indian environment so that the capacity of young people grows in this subject," adds Martin, who took over as the vice chancellor of Deakin in 2019.
With the increasing popularity of 20:20 cricket, IPL, other sports initiatives along with the expansion of sports channels and participation of India at various international sporting events, youngster inclined towards sports is aspiring to get a degree in sports-related courses. Studying subjects such as Sports Science or Sports Coaching Management are becoming popular. Students need to identify their skills and abilities in order to pursue such courses, concludes Martin.