Sports Village eyes overseas presence

Mohammad Shamsuddin, the CEO of Sports Village, is on cloud nine these days. For one who is on the move and hopes to redefine the concept of coaching and going about spotting of young tennis talent, he is gradually, but forcefully, proving a point of two.

For starters, he has won appreciation of budding players and their guardians for the manner he organised First Serve, a two-week international coaching camp under the overall supervision of eminent coaches from Spain and Switzerland at Jubilee Hills International Centre (JHIC).

Not only has he set sights on reinvigorating the scenario in Telangana State but also wishes to spread wings in Andhra Pradesh. However, the past two months have been like a dream come true for the globe-trotting photo journalist-turned-entrepreneur.

A recent trip to Bahrain has won Shamsuddin not only a huge accolade but also the possibility of getting a seal of foreign approval. If things work accordingly, Sports Village is likely to foray into untested waters by setting up centres in the Middle East.

‘It was a proud moment for when I enjoyed a once-in-lifetime privilege. I could meet Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the king of Bahrain, recently. He praised my efforts in grooming tennis talent in India and hiring foreign coaches to conduct clinics by way of promoting the Spanish method tennis camp,’ he said with noticeable joy.

On what more transpired during the brief interaction, Shamsuddin explains, ‘he invited me to bring top tennis players to the Asia Pacific and establish permanent camps in Bahrain and in the Gulf region.’ He hopes to work in the direction because procuring ‘state-of-the-art infrastructure is relatively easier there.’

He reiterated that Sports Village represents many European Tennis Academies that are owned and run by WTA professionals as their marketing arm in India. Speaking about the immediate future plans, he says that he is working with Vision 2020 as the roadmap.

‘Our immediate objective is to consolidate gains and conduct of camps in Hyderabad, coastal Andhra and other States in South India before the end of the year. We will conduct half-a-dozen camps every year. In the pipeline are proposals to acquire land to establish a permanent space for Sports Village, which we intend to make a residential academy so that trainees can come and stay over for longer camps.

This will also come in handy for youngsters coming from neighbouring countries, who are keen on honing their skills the Spanish way’, he points out. As things stand, Sports Village, like Mohd Shamsuddin, is going places.