Ecole Sports Foundation

1. Intro Blog for Ecole Sports Foundation Sports is integral to our Lives! It instills values like Team-work, sustenance, discipline and persistence to name a few. Long-term health benefits of an active sports stay with us and keeps the diseases at bay. It is also the healthiest form of entertainment and helps us overcome the various forms of addiction from substance to gadgets. In India, Cricket is the highest followed Sport. A study by the Government of India estimated around 5.5 Crore people play the sport at various levels. The count of followers goes several notches up during the IPL or any of the World Cup tournaments. The IPL is estimated to be watched by 50 million people across the Globe and is ranked the 6th highest attended tournament across all Sports in the World. This frenzy certainly encourages several young people to take the sport up. The natural progression of a Cricketer in his/her career is as follows: - School/Academy Team – District Team (U-16, U-19, U-23, Senior) – University Team - State Team (U-16, U-19, U-23, Senior) – Zonal Team - (U-16, U-19, U-23, Senior).

2. Unlike earlier times, where even National Cricketers had to pursue other vocations to ensure a smooth life, cricket has become a vocation by itself now. It is well-paying with reasonable remuneration coming from the governing body, BCCI. There are State level T20 tournaments where several Cricketers get opportunities. Those that are able to make it to the State teams and play for a sustained period receive pension too nowadays. There are several other opportunities in the associated professions that are cropping up viz., Coaching, Analysts, Strength & Conditioning, umpiring, scoring etc. where players find a vocation. India is blessed to have a huge talent pool owing to the mass adoption of the Sport. However, there are several challenges that the aspiring Cricketers face: - Availability of Infrastructure in smaller locations. ● Cricket is a sport that requires pitches and grounds of a certain order. ○ This everywhere. is an expensive proposition and might not be available ○ Gears are expensive and not everyone can afford it. ○ Smaller locations need success stories for building the infrastructure for the future. ○ Availability of good Coaches. ● Smaller locations with lower paying capacity do not attract good coaches for commercial reasons. ○ A lack of interest in the Sport in locations without local cricket heroes. ○ Selection Opportunities. ● This is a sore point for several aspirants. ○ The fault does not lie in the will or intent of the selectors that pick sides since it is virtually impossible to gauge the talent of all participants in a short time due to the volumes that turn up. ○ A reference point or data series that tracks the performance of the aspirants over a period of time helps the Selectors in identifying talent that can be groomed for the future. ○

3. Some Solutions that have helped the growth of cricketers, especially at the grass-root level have been taken by various organizations. CRICHEROES is a platform that tracks players and their journey through their app. It keeps a detail of his/her performance in all the games that they have played through all the games scored on their platform. Their success is substantiated by several State Associations that use this app for scoring. This is a NO COST app that helps the grass-root cricketers. However, matches need to be played for the scoring to happen. There is a severe dearth of standardized tournaments that offer a Platform for the budding cricketers to exhibit their skills. A spread of age-group tournaments involving cricketers from Districts is crucial to creating this pathway. Ecole Sports Foundation is a ‘Not-for-Profit’ organization in Pune that is driven by this vision. The Ecole Team is committed to creating such platforms across age-groups (school, U-16, U-19, U-23) for Boys and Girls across the state of Maharashtra. The first such tournament was conducted in 2021-2022 for U-19 Boys of Maharashtra. A U-23 Men’s tournament is planned for October, 2023 followed by a similar tournament for the girls in Maharashtra towards the end of the year by them. The Ecole team has plans to spread to Football in coming years and ensure that they create platforms for upcoming sportspersons with a reach across Maharashtra. Content Details Address: Ecole Sports Foundation, FL NO F/901 Rohan Garima, S N0.103A/1011, Bhamburda Shivaji Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra, India,411016. Phones: +91 9836377787 Gmail: info@ecole.co.in Social Page :- Website URL- Facebook URL- https://www.facebook.com/ecolesportsfoundation Twitter URL - https://twitter.com/ecole_sports Linkedin URL - https://www.instagram.com/ecole_sportsfoundation/ https://www.ecole.co.in/

4. Instagram URL - https://www.instagram.com/ecole_sportsfoundation/