Leaders in Sports: Interview with Nandan Kamath, Managing Trustee, GoSports Foundation

Next leader to open up in the series ‘Leaders in Sports’ is Mr. Nandan Kamath. He is the managing Trustee of GoSports Foundation, an organisation striving to provide young athletes support, knowledge and encouragement to help them realize their dream.

Nandan is a law graduate from Harvard Law School, the University of Oxford (on a Rhodes scholarship) and the National Law School of India. He has represented India Under-16′s and captained the Karnataka state team as well. Presently Nandan runs a boutique sports and intellectual property law practice in Bangalore.

Nandan Kamath

You went to Harvard Law School, so how did you get into sports from there?

I played various competitive team sports right through my time in school and college and I must have spent more of my teenage years on the play fields than I did in the classrooms. I was on track to play cricket professionally until, much to my own surprise, I got admission into the National Law School, Bangalore. From that point on, my academic pursuits and classroom time took precedence.

My legal interests grew in the spheres of intellectual property and media laws. After having done my graduate studies in the UK and in the US and then having worked in the US for a few years, I had a strong desire to get back home and to build something I cared about. I looked back and realised that sport had been the common theme that had brought me joy, friendships and enjoyable experiences. At the same time, I wanted to use the knowledge and skills I had picked up along the way. This led me to mould my professional interests around sport, with a focus on sports law and a passion for sports development. At the core of my choice was my love for sport and the desire to share it with others.

Which sports do you play and follow?

I played competitive cricket and hockey at the junior level and I thought they were both fabulous team sports, especially hockey. I also had a short stint as a football goalkeeper at the school level, short because it was unclear which team my efforts were aiding. These days I swim, play an occasional round of golf and some friendly cricket matches, sadly none of them with much distinction.

I’m happy to watch any sport particularly when I can watch it live at stadiums, which my work luckily permits me to do quite often. I am not passionate about following any particular sport or team but am generally aware of what’s going on in sport across the world.

Over time, the way I consume and engage with sport has changed – today I’m possibly watching out for different things, the way a sport is organised and administered, the commercial choices made by the organisers, more things at the level of sports policy and management. Maybe that’s inevitable when you make sport your profession. That’s not to say I don’t still enjoy watching an outstanding sporting performance, it is just that the focus of viewing has changed.

Do you follow any team(s) closely? Who is your favorite player(s)?

No, I don’t have any favorite teams if you mean professional football teams and the like. I do closely follow the performances of our national teams and athletes with much interest, so I suppose you could say I follow Team India!

My two sports heroes growing up were Prakash Padukone and Rahul Dravid. I still greatly admire both of them. Among the contemporary international sportsmen both Federer and Nadal top my list on many counts. I am also an admirer of our Indian athletes who aspire and achieve internationally, against the odds.

Tell us about GoSports Foundation. What is it about?

At the centre of the GoSports Foundation mission is the desire to inject professionalism and positivity into our sporting ecosystem. We felt strongly that we had these to offer and that it would be meaningful and valuable to proactively contribute our efforts.

Our programmes are focused on creating financial and knowledge-driven support systems for young athletes through scholarship, grant-giving and mentorship projects. This is partly about plugging some existing gaps and partly about playing a part in changing the narrative of Indian sport.

Having established our scholarship programmes, we are also eager to work at the policy level and are also kick starting initiatives addressing certain other needs such as post-career planning and employability and a few others that we believe will make for a better-prepared and more confident Indian athlete.

As we are not financially pre-endowed, we also work hard to bring more money and support into sport and provide those who wish to engage with sport an independent, transparent and professional platform through which to manage their engagement with Indian sports development. Our network of supporters has been growing steadily and comprises primarily of those who love sport, have personally gained from sport and know what it has to offer.

Your motto at GoSports Foundation is “Empowering India’s Future Olympians”, do you think we can host the summer Olympics any time soon?

In all honesty, I hope we can get there some day, but there is a very long road ahead. I can’t help but agree with Abhinav Bindra‘s view in his autobiography that prioritising hosting the Olympics should be one of the last things on our sports administrators’ agendas at the moment. I think it is somewhat like booking the hall for your child’s wedding when he/she is still in kindergarten. We need to get our talent identification and management systems much stronger, more robust so that we are capable of fully enjoying the legacy of an Olympics.

These days we see a lot Chambers like FICCI appreciating the work done in sports by organizations in sports and providing them with a platform to grow. In fact you were awarded the best NGO promoting Sports in India. Do you think it is a sign of not only good work done by you but how far Sports in India has come?

The world over, corporate involvement is at the heart of sports promotion. It’s a very heartening sign that this is permeating India Inc. in a more systemic way. The interest taken by FICCI, CII, etc. is very encouraging. Sport has for too long fallen between the cracks, between corporate marketing and CSR departments, being perceived as not marketable enough on the one hand and not deserving enough compared to other causes, on the other. The only way to overcome this is for corporate India to begin to sample the potential of sport and to have legitimate, responsible platforms to make investments through. We are still early on the continuum, but are moving in the right direction.

We were delighted to receive the Best NGO Promoting Sports recognition from FICCI. We are a young organisation and every little encouragement and bit of support counts in keeping us going, keeping us hungry to achieve more. We also see it as affirmation of the path we are on, the achievements of our athletes and the support of all those who have backed us in converting a vision into an institution.

Abhinav Bindra

India has seen a big rise in how people view sports over the last few years, what do you put that down to?

We are a very achievement-oriented society and competition is in our blood. So is the desire to be constantly entertained and stimulated. The growth of sports consumption and engagement was inevitable. The rise of sports broadcasters and availability of live sport of all sorts across media have driven the growth significantly. Young India has been brought up on the cricket mania of their parents and we should expect this generation to not just adopt but also adapt and find their own sporting interests and passions, in some sense to rebel. We are already seeing it with EPL and F1, we should expect shifting patterns of consumption as well as participation.

Do you think in a country like India athletes need more advice than players from other countries?

I think it is difficult to generalise on matters like this, it varies significantly from individual to individual. Athletes everywhere need high-quality advice and mentoring, not just on technical aspects of their sport but also on conducting their personal and professional lives and making good choices.

That said, I feel we come from an education system that does not necessarily teach youngsters the vocabulary of sport. The social messaging around sports is also not very encouraging. So perhaps there is a longer ladder to climb for anyone seeking a career in sport in India.

Do you think we are doing enough to be seen as a nation that is more than just about Cricket?

Ultimately, we will be seen for what we are. Efforts are clearly on to have other sports promoted in the same fashion that cricket has been, especially since the success of the IPL. However, I think we need to approach each sport differently and uniquely. For example, some might be better off being driven at the local community participation level while others might be more broadcast-ready. Getting it right needs trial and error, experimentation, an openness to learning and innovation.

Where do you think Indian sports stands now, crouched for a big leap or still evolving?

I think it is like a crouching tiger waiting patiently for palatable prey to arrive on the scene. There will be no big leap, it will all come together quite naturally when the conditions are right. But for the prey to be attractive we will need much stronger governance and better administration of our sporting bodies. I believe it will all boil down to that.

How have you seen the face of Indian sports change in the last few years and where do you see it going in the next few?

I see a far more confident, self-aware and confident young Indian athlete. The sense of being second-rate no longer sits well. Many barriers, both mental and physical, have been broken. The weight of talent, ambition and desire is putting increasing pressure on the system. Frankly, in this environment, I don’t think that continuing administrative apathy stands much of a chance.

What do you think is needed for India to have a more conducive environment for sports on an all-round basis?

We need more space, both physically and socially, for our youngsters to live active and sporty lives and to make this part of their routines. Infrastructure needs to be more accessible. We need more kids from all backgrounds sampling sports of all types and having the chance to fall in love with sport. From love will come dreams and ambition, and the desire to fully explore one’s own potential. We really have the opportunity to lead fuller, more passionate lives through sport.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing Indian sports today? Is it corruption, indifference, lack of natural athleticism, or something else?

At the risk of generalising, I would say the biggest challenge is changing the social narrative of achievement, we must truly believe and accept that short cuts are not acceptable, that risk taking is not inherently bad. Short term thinking, band-aid solutions and extreme result-orientation are not conducive to achieving at sport. That applies to both administrators and athletes. The most outstanding achievers usually get there by putting everything on the line and respecting processes.

A lot of organisations in India have come up that either coach sports or are into Sports & Event Management. Do you think that’s a sign of things to come, that in the future India will have a solid sports infrastructure in place?

A vibrant sports ecosystem requires all sorts of organisations to flourish. You are right that a majority of startups today are focusing on coaching and event management. I think that’s a factor of natural rent seeking behaviour in a still evolving market. These need lower capital investment and have shorter break-even timelines. As maturity creeps in to the industry, the more successful organisations will slowly creep up the value chain. We will need more work on infrastructure and platform creation at both grassroots and elite levels.

Do you think India can become a world super power when it comes to sports like, say, Spain or Australia? How long do you think that is going to take?

If you check back on China’s Olympic record until the mid-1980′s you will be shocked at how little they achieved. Look where they are now! With political and social will it is incredible what can be achieved in one generation. So, yes, I believe it is possible for us to do it as well.

We do need to think about ways to have more Indians of all ages start, stay in and succeed at sports at all levels, whether they are playing in their neighbourhood or representing the country at a major sporting event.

What would be your advice be to parents of budding sportsmen or people looking to enter the sporting world?

The love for sport is a gift that keeps on giving throughout your life in ways that might not be immediately apparent. Possibly the only thing that is more satisfying than enjoying one’s own success is knowing you have played a part in someone else’s.