NEWS CLIPPING Mico A champions Date: 15.02.2004 Mico A team emerged overall winners of the Lipton’s Merchants Cup inter-corporate sports and games tournament on Sunday. Mico A staved off stiff competition from last edition’s champions GE Jack Welch Technology Centre. Mico won took top honours in badminton, tug of war, pentathlon, women’s throwball, triathlon and squash. Results :
NEWS CLIPPING Total sports solutions Date: 15.01.2004 BANGALORE IS growing .and how! The
fastest growing metro in the country, perhaps in Asia too, however,
lacks the infrastructure to meet the sports and The SPT Sports Academy is ideally located on Sarjapur Road, about 10 km from Koramangala's BDA complex and 3 km from the Wipro corporate office. Amit Saran claims that the Academy's golf driving range is one of its kind, as none of the privately- run academies, barring golf clubs, boast of such a facility in the country. The academy, when it becomes fully operational, would have Lawn Bowling Facilities and athletics track too. Saran and his team are working round the clock to get the complex ready. Saran's main business has been and still is sports event management. He has now set his sights higher to provide what he calls a "total sports solution", not only for common people, but also to meet the growing needs of the corporate sector. "More than any- thing else, I realised there is a great potential for children who wish to take up sports. They need the right kind of facilities arid environment to grow with sports. It is with this view to encourage sports consciousness among the children, besides catering to the needs of adults that we have set up this academy," says Saran. Saran feels sports should have multi-faceted dimesion. "Children may idolise a Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid but their real skills might be in some other sports. They may be good in dribbling or might have good drive needed for golf. So, we are giving them a range of facilities, and allow them to evolve as sportsmen in the chosen field," says Saran. The focus at SPT Academy is just not on cricket alone. "We are going to have a cricket oval, but our accent will not be on cricket as there are dime-a-dozen academies for cricket. We wish to concentrate on football and golf, two of the fastest growing sporting activities in the world." Saran sees lot of scope' for golf. "We have nine hole par 28 mini golf facility with practical green available to fine tune one's putting and short game. We are going to pro- vide quality equipment and there is going to be a IS-bay driving range with target greens, which also double up as playing greens after one had the learnt the basics of the game," says Saran. "Golf training will come at affordable costs and the academy would have instructors certified by the Indian Golf Teachers Federation. We also intend to get expert trainers from US," says Saran. SPT gold facilities would offer corporate executives to learn the game and develop networking. "Golfing is part of corporate set up in the U.S., and on weekends every corporate and software professional worth his salt plays golf. Many of our Indian techies who go over there feel left out as they do not know much about the game. Even at home here, golf and business these days go together with our facilities and training.Corporate executives not only get the hang of the game, but get proficient in it too," says Saran. As regards tennis, the academy will have two grass courts, two football fields customised for five-a-side play. besides a full-sized ground. After the end of the hard day on the courts and greens, one could relax with a beer and a hearty meal at a clubhouse that is being built at the complex. Getting children involved in sports
might be a lofty aim of SPT. but the real bread comes from corporate
participation, and Saran hopes that the Academy would be a one-
stop destination for all corporate activities in the city. The response to his project has been very encouraging. "Lot of apartment complexes are coming up in and around Sarjapur and Koramangala stretch. The families need certain basic facilities and the biggest demand is from the corporate sector and IT units in Koramangala, Whitefield, Electronics City. and Sarjapur areas. The corporates can use our facilities for intra-sport activities ,.and for weekend sporting bash. We plan to have a corporate football event with I6,teams, in April. That should be a big hit too. Already. lot of companies have sent their personnel to have a look at our proposed facilities. People from Hewlett Packard, Biocon and a few other companies had come here. I see a good turn- out from the corporate world once all the facilities are ready," says Saran. The SPT Academy would be formally inaugurated after the completion of football and golf facilities on January 25. Saran reckons by March- April, the SPT Sports Acade- my would be fully operation- al. Saran is confident that he would meet deadline. "For one thing. we have the experience in building sports infrastructure. We have done golf. 'football, and squash facilities around the country for many clients. We have the expertise and we are professionally equipped to do it. And at SPT, we are not going to compromise on quality. Five years from now, I see the academy really buzzing with some big activities," signs off Saran. KHALYAN N. ASHOK
Academy to nurture sporting talent among youth, executives Date: 14.01.2004 SPT Sports Academy, to be launched on January 25, is the outcome of the growing demand among corporates and schools for sporting activities. The Academy was. initially established to 'nurture and develop sporting capability among the youth. But having found that corporates too are looking for sporting activities as part of their people processes, Bangalore- based SPT has extended its infrastructure and services to this target area as well. Mr Amit Saran, CEO, 8PT Sports, said, "There is a growing interest among executives for golf, tennis, football and cricket. And we have all these facilities at the academy for these games." He says golf is now being used by corporates to help their employees develop better, networking skills. The academy has instructors certified by the Indian Golf Teachers Federation. "This is ideal for. executives who want to learn the game from scratch, or for experienced players looking for quality facilities to develop their game," explains Mr Saran. Located on Sarjapur Road in Bangalore, the 'academy. also features an obstacle course, archery facilities, lawn bowling facilities,. and croquet apart from an athletic track. The. academy is spread across seven
acres and has two five-a-side football fields, a 15- bay golf
driving range, a nine- hole mini golf course, a: cricket ground,
two tennis Courts and a 200;metre athletic track among other facilities.
.' From the year 2,000, the Academy started
conducted sporting events for corporates such as Infosys, Wipro,
IBM, i- flex, Oracle, ING Vysya and HDFC. . NEWS CLIPPING SPT is game for quality sports Date: 12.01.2004 Bangalore breathes life. Any mention of our city is greeted with wows in any part of the world. And the accolades are showered on the Garden City because someone out here in the middle is making it happen. The roles they play may not be felt directly but they are a vital cog in the wheel, which moves Bangalore forward. In 'On the Move, ' we feature individuals who have made a difference. Focus is on overall development. We speak to Amit Saran, Chief Executive Officer, SPT Sports. The City will soon be adding another
feather to its cap, with the opening of a multi-discipline sports
academy with state-of-the-art infrastructure and professional
coaching. Promoted by SPT Sports, the SPT Sports Academy is laid
out on a sprawling seven-acre campus on Sarjapur Road. What is the infrastructure like at
the Academy? Are corporates your main targets? Who are the sports personalities involved
in the Academy? |
