Stars to mentor young Indian sporting talent
INDIA cricketer Robin Uthappa and tennis star Rohan Bopanna will mentor budding sports stars of the future as part of the National Scholarship Program launched last month by the Sports School (TSS), an integrated institution for sports and academics.
The Sports School (TSS), which won Best Education Institute Promoting Sports at the FICCI India Sports Awards 2020, will award scholarships to about 60 eligible students across four sports – cricket, football, tennis and basketball.
The announcement was made during a virtual press conference attended by Bopanna, Uthappa and Mandar Tamhane, CEO of Bengaluru FC and partner of the TSS Football Academy.
John Mahesh Rao, head coach of the TSS Basketball Academy and TSS director Dr Sankar UV were also present at the event.
“I’m glad that this scholarship program will be a great opportunity to reach out to the talented kids who give up on their dreams of a tennis career due to lack of financial support and opportunities,” said Bopanna, who is the chief mentor of TSS and founder of Rohan Bopanna TSS Tennis Academy.
“With this scholarship I believe the players, who have AITA ranking and want to pursue the sport at the highest level, will get the right training and guidance along with quality education.”
The scholarship programme will be offered to students in the U-12, U-14 and U-16 age categories. They will be evaluated based on their potential and performance in the trials, to be held later this month.
The scholarships will range between 25 per cent to 100 per cent covering sports training and academics fees.
Uthappa, a chief mentor of the TSS cricket Academy said: “During the 2007 World Cup in West Indies, I was in the final year of my BCom degree, and I missed the final exams because I was at the World Cup.
“Only the following year could I sit for the exam, that too after I had gone through special classes. But we don’t have to do in the Sports School, we make sure that we integrate education with sports.”
TSS has also tied up with Indian Super League franchise Bengaluru FC as its football partner.
“At Bengaluru FC, our aim is to improve Indian football by scouting talent and bringing them under one roof where our youth development programme gives them the best possible opportunity to grow as players,” said Tamhane.
“We are the only club-operated academy to receive two-star rating by the AFC, and adding these young ones to our system and later our first team is the goal.”