Mysuru:  The First Certificate Award Ceremony for the Post Graduate Programme in Sports Management (PGPSM)students was held for the Sports Management Programme students of SDM Institute for Management Development (SDM IMD) and Centre for Sports & Management Studies (CS&MS) at the Institute campus on July 20.

The chief guest for the occasion was former International Tennis Player Somdev Devvaraman, Brand Ambassador of Sport Management Programme.  He congratulated the graduating students of the first batch and awarded them with their sports management certificates.

Addressing the gathering, he said, “India is a country where the sports sector is growing rapidly. The health index of India ranks outside 100 and this has become a massive concern. The simplest way to fix this problem is to involve India with sports. There is a huge spectrum in India with the surge of Kabadi, IPL, Marathon, etc. Sports is not just a luxury now, but it is a necessity. We as a country need to improve in this field and SDMIMD and CS&MS is preparing the students for the future of sports.”

Highlighting on the Greatest-Of-All-Time (GOAT) debate, Somdev said, “it is to be noted that there has been comparisons of who the GOAT is over the generation; but one should realise that all these great players are great learners. Sportspersons like Rafael Nadal, Virat Kohli and Roger Federer all follow a particular kind of process. Roger Federer with his never say die attitude came back after a major knee injury and won the Australian Open at the age of 37. It is because these sportsmen are always eager and hungry to learn. People should be process oriented and not result oriented. Winning is a by-product, so give your best and take up the process in the right way.” He also emphasised on the importance of being a team player and the need to develop a learning mind-set.

Earlier, Dr. H. Gayathri, Program Director – PGPSM and Deputy Director, SDMIMD, delivered the welcome address and gave a brief timeline of the graduating students during their course of study at the College.

She was filled with joy that all the students have been placed in various sports academies and sports management companies.

Dr. Gayathri added that the sports industry will grow rapidly by 2020 and it is a labour intensive and people oriented industry.

Enrico Piperno, Founder, CS&MS, speaking on the occasion, congratulated the graduates. He added that these students are ahead of the curve.

Raghav Prasad, Faculty Member, PGPSM, proposed a vote of thanks. Faculty members M.J. Charan, C.K. Muralidharan, Vijay Krishnamurthy and Shama Rao were also present.