Sportz Village’s Vision: Fun Over Elite Pipelines in Youth Sports

Grassroots Play Over Elite Pathways: A New Approach

In a country where the focus is often on Olympic medals and elite academies, Saumil Majmudar, CEO of India's largest school sports organisation, Sportz Village, challenges this traditional approach. In an exclusive interview with HT Sports, Majmudar posed the question, 'Why can't we just play for fun?' This foundational sentiment drives Sportz Village’s mission to shift the focus from elite pathways to grassroots engagement and education.

Fun-Based Education: A Scalable Solution

Majmudar co-founded Sportz Village in Bengaluru in 2003 with a vision that has since grown. The organisation now deploys over 1,100 trainers who conduct daily classes across 600 schools nationwide. Majmudar believes in leveraging existing school facilities rather than building expensive retail sports infrastructure. He argues that the current model is mathematically flawed, as only about half a percent of children are involved in elite pathways like Khelo India.

Data-Driven Impact and Policy Advocacy

To address this gap, Sportz Village relies on data to demonstrate the value of physical education. Their Annual Health Survey measures fitness metrics across thousands of students, providing stakeholders with evidence-based decisions. While policy initiatives like NEP 2020 mandate daily physical education, Majmudar remains skeptical about top-down directives and advocates for a bottom-up approach driven by parents demanding better quality sports experiences.

Global Paradox and Future Investments

Majmudar highlights the global paradox that countries with high Olympic medal counts also have high obesity rates. He believes that public funds should be directed towards creating playgrounds and safe spaces rather than large, short-lived infrastructure projects. His vision is to drive neighbourhood participation through events and safer environments for children to play.

Sportz Village’s approach is about returning to the basics of fun in sports. Elite pathways may follow naturally but cannot be the starting point for a nation's youth. Majmudar emphasizes that kids must first discover the joy of playing before finding their pathway.