Mentorship = The Need of the Hour in Indian Sports Management Education

At the moment, the Indian sports industry does not require more sports management education institutes to be established or short courses and executive programs to be launched.  This trend has taken India by storm over the last few years.  While I am thrilled that the birth of these institutes and courses reflect the growing demand for sports management as a career option, I cannot confidently say that they are all serving the industry or the student. 

This statement is not meant to be derogatory towards the universities, organizations and individuals that have launched these courses. Most offer the requisite amount of teaching hours, industry exposure and internship opportunities to pass students through the course and attempt to launch them into the sporting ecosystem. However, what is missing in many of the sports management programs I have researched is a robust and customized mentorship program.      

The Indian sports industry is still a developing one. It is nascent and cannot be expected to operate with similar systems and processes as a more established sector. The impact of this is that those who want to enter the industry face several obstacles that could easily lead them down the wrong road or, even worse, have them choose a different career pathway to follow. And left to fend for oneself can be extremely daunting, especially when deciding to pursue a career in a field that is not fully understood or supported by the public. I’ve elaborated on some of these obstacles below:

Crab Mentality 

One of the consequences of an industry that is still finding its feet is the ‘crab mentality’ found in many of its senior leaders. This metaphor is derived from a pattern of behavior noted in crabs when they are trapped in a bucket. While any one crab could easily escape, its efforts will be undermined by others, ensuring the group's collective demise. 

I understand where this mentally within Indian sports stems from. These senior leaders had to work extremely hard to build the early foundations of the industry at a time when there was no funding or support systems in place. Beyond that, they would be trying to build their businesses while facing government corruption, clients that default on payments and lack of public understanding of the sector.  

Given this, it would be easy for someone who has made it to the ‘top of the bucket’ to hesitate before helping a junior employee jump through the ranks of profile and package so easily and quickly. At the same time, it would not take much for a lesser successful or junior member of the industry to look to pull down this individual versus learn from what helped them get to the top or boost them up further.  

Scarcity of Information 

Another consequence of a developing industry is that there is limited information available to empower youth to make decisions.  In the west, it is easy to go online and access millions of pages of information covering industry stakeholders, modern data on the growth of the industry and case studies that offer an inside look at how the sector functions. If one researched hard enough, they could get an overview of most positions within the sports industry with details on the kind of education, strengths and interests that would best align with this type of role. This kind of information is gold for an aspiring sports management professional trying to figure out how to move forward.  

Unfortunately, in India, this type of in-depth industry coverage either does not exist or is not accurate because the data is being used to drive investment into a particular sector or organization. This leaves someone interested in learning about the industry completely dependent on their seniors to provide accurate information and guide them in the right direction. 

Academia cannot keep up with Sports Industry Expansion 

In more established industries like health care, engineering or retail, academia is closely linked with that industry's present state and future. Ideally, the dean of the respective school would have their finger on the pulse of the industry to understand current events and gauge how to evolve the student journey best to meet industry requirements. And as that particular sector expands, the institute would be able to expand its offerings to reflect the new look of the field the students are preparing to join. 

In an emerging industry, like sports in India, this system is much harder to create. It requires a dean or program director who can spend half their time studying the industry and the rest of their time integrating this knowledge into the student journey.  And without access to quality industry news or journals (see above), this individual is dependent on accessing information through their network. So, the institute must hire someone who is a leader in the industry, understands academics and enjoys working with youth – a very specific profile that is not easy to find when an industry is at a nascent stage. 

The real loser in this situation are the students, as they will not have enough people around them who understand the industry and can help them uncover all the different roles that are appearing as the sector expands. An example within Indian sports is the rapid expansion in the areas of online gaming, fantasy sports and digital marketing. There will be thousands of available positions opening in these fields, and it would take an equipped individual to talk to students about these roles and help them develop themselves to secure them. 

So why mentorship? 

The definition of a mentor is an experienced and trusted adviser. The definition of mentorship is the guidance provided by a mentor, especially an experienced person in a company or educational institution. 

The aspiring sports management professional in India requires mentorship for the following reasons:

• This is a new field without much information 

• Sports is a $700 billion industry, and it takes mentors to help individuals identify their passions, strengths and purpose and align them with the hundreds of thousands of jobs within the sporting ecosystem 

• Pursuing a field like sports management can come along with doubts, fears, pressures, etc. and a quality mentor can help the individual name, address and overcome these emotions 

What should a quality mentorship program include?

• Customized and personalized approach 
• Monthly individual mentor meetings 
• Psychological counselling 
• Career assessment examinations 
• System of accountability 

As of writing this post, I have completed three months of a nine-month life coaching course and am beginning to understand the power of focused coaching and mentorship. I’ll have much more to share on this in future posts. 

In the meantime, I hope that Indian sports management education institutes focus less on expanding wider by launching new programs and more on diving deeper by establishing a robust, intimate and intensive mentorship program to serve the student and the sports industry at-large.