Somaiya Sports Academy was found to create a world-class sports academy for students of Somaiya Vidyavihar, as well as other sport enthusiasts; and instill in the students’ knowledge of sport, moral values, leadership and confidence to make them reach their full potential as sports person and human beings.

Somaiya Sports Academy, an initiative of Somaiya Vidyavihar, has international standard infrastructure for various sports including Athletics (all disciplines), Basketball, Badminton, Squash, Football, Cricket, as well as a fully equipped gymnasium.

It caters to individuals, who aspire to compete at a high level and provide world-class coaching for the same with certified coaches in all sports. It also has a “pay and play” system, where sports enthusiasts can rent sports spaces and enjoy sports at a recreational level. The institute encourages sporting events and is available for third parties to come and organize sporting events at the campus.

From the Experts’ Desk 

“Our students are encouraged to participate in a variety of sports. To enable this, we have invested in building quality sports facilities in all our campuses. We have campuses in Vidyavihar and Sion in Mumbai and other rural areas such Laxmiwadi and Kopergaon in Ahmednagar, Sakharwadi and Dahanu in Maharashtra, and Sameerwadi in Karnataka District.

Each Somaiya Vidyavihar campus celebrates the power of sports in individual development”.

says Aazaz Khan, Director, Somaiya Sports Academy.

“In our rural schools, our sports programs have another vital role to play in the overall development of the students and community. It connects students to the world outside their village when they play at district, state, national and international levels”, he adds.

Samir Somaiya, President of Somaiya Vidyavihar Trust says “Our Founder, Padma Bhushan Shri K. J. Somaiya founded Somaiya Vidyavihar in September 1959 as a campus which would enable holistic development of the students as well as contribute to community development. He visualized the need of a sports academy at Somaiya Vidyavihar. During my Master’s Graduation, my grandfather, Mr. K.J. Somaiya visited Cornell University and he saw the sports field at Cornell. He said, why can’t we not have such a field on our campus. And he planned it. However, he could not see it built. So, the first thing I did, when I took charge, is that I built a 400 m running track in 2011” adds Samir. 

Bestowing with Utmost Facilities

Somaiya Vidyavihar considers sports as an essential part of holistic development of students. To encourage and enable students to participate in sports, Somaiya Vidyavihar conducts credit and non-credit courses for the students to impart sports specific skills.

Further, Somaiya Sports Academy coaches train the college, school, and academy players and teams who are participating in various District, State, National, and International tournaments. The students volunteer when the events are conducted in the campus, giving them a better understanding in the nuances of organizing a tournament.

The Accomplished Students

Somaiya Sports Academy players have represented the institute in International and National tournaments and won awards. To name a few Sharvari Parulekar represented Maharashtra at the 34th National Junior Athletics Championship, where she bagged a silver medal in the Triple Jump event. Currently ranked second in India, Rahul Baitha, finished in top 16 in Asia in the 25th Asian Junior Individual Squash Championship held at Chennai. Students from our school at Sameerwadi students have won silver medals at National Aerobics Championship 2018 held at Goa and Praveen Gupta has set a shot-put record of 15.32m for under 18 boys category.

About the Career Opportunities and Future Prospects

Students, who are part of the Somaiya Sports Academy, be it as players or lover of sports who volunteer, undergo training under the guidance of certified and experienced coaches. They also get an exposure to various aspects   – technical, administration, operations, events, facility maintenance. Many students who want to pursue their career in sports have joined The Somaiya Sports Academy internship position under ‘Learn and Earn Scheme’. As the Academy is growing rapidly, some interns are offered permanent positions with the academy.

With the existing sports infrastructure at the various campuses and the upcoming Eklavya Sports Complex and the first class cricket ground, Somaiya Sports Academy, a pioneer in its initiatives plans to start certificate and diploma courses for providing sports education to students.

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