Square Off Sports - a Way of Life

Square Off Sports is a premier sports management, consulting and a training organization providing comprehensive services in the field of sports.

Background

India has been enriched by some exceptional sports personalities who have taken the world by storm.

Recent headlines have been screaming with announcements of extraordinary performances by some renowned names in the sports arena. Such talented people have been fortunate to have been discovered at the right moment and their faculties have been nurtured, lifting them out of obscurity into International Limelight.

Given India’s geographical magnitude of the country, one can only imagine the talent that seems out of sight and waiting to be discovered.

Square Off Sports has been established to be the change agent - encouraging the youth of the country to take up sports as their ‘way of life’.

The Philosophy

Square Off Sports – a way of life - is a movement to reach out to the young and share the belief that achievements are a possibility and there are endless opportunities.

Looking at the International sports arena, Olympics India has been participating from the 1900’s out of the 23 times we have won a total of only 26 medals till date. In Hockey our National Sport we have won the highest medals 8 Gold 1 Silver & 2 Bronze – yet how many Young Indians look at Hockey as a lucrative sport other than Cricket.

India’s population in 2014 has already hit the mark of 1.26 billion. While the global population 2014 score reaches at 7.2 billion, India roughly represents 18% of the total world populace yet we don’t represent in most of the international sporting events. Other than Cricket the second followed sport across few states in India is Football; and yet we are ranked 170 in the FIFA World Ranking in Jan 2015 our lowest ranking till date and have never played a single FIFA World Cup game.

There are reasons like lack of accountable training sessions, poor infrastructure development & maintenance, cultural influences, academia wherein they all act as deflators of enthusiasm than encourage the inner talent.

With a strategic vision of professionalizing the delivery of sports in India, Square Off Sports hopes to create a paradigm shift and act as agents to encourage the youth right from their formative age to take up sports as a way of life thereby building career opportunities in sports.

ABOUT Square Off Sports : 

Square Off Sports is a premier sports management, consulting and a training organization providing comprehensive services in the field of sports. Square Off Sports is formed with the intent to develop a sporting culture in India, a culture that promises a future for all aspirants, one that conditions them with professional coaching, structured & progressive training sessions, consult on investing in the right sports gear & infrastructure and provides them a platform through professional tournament environments to display their talent thereby facilitating the GenNext of India to take up sports as a profession and excel in it.

Vision:

Making Sports a way of life we shall put India in the forefront of International Sports Arena by 2025.

Mission:

We bring in opportunities to foster and encourage sports among the youth, by organising & developing all sporting requirements.

Create a talent pool to take sporting events in this country to its ultimate potential.

Work hand in hand with policy & key decision makers in the Sports arena across the gamut.

Square Off  Sports TEAM - Three Pillars 

Ashish Agarwal – Managing Director & Co-founder

An Electronics & Telecom Engineer from Mumbai University & over 15 years of work experience across Sales, Strategy, Business Development, Key Account Management and Team Management in Top IT firms & MNC’s like IBM India Pvt Ltd, HCL Info systems Ltd, NSE.IT Ltd – A 100% subsidiary of National Stock Exchange Of India Limited (NSEIL), Ricoh India Ltd., Ashish is the Managing Director of Square Off Sports Pvt. Ltd.

An effective communicator with great presentation skills, his negotiation and relationship management is an asset to the organisation with his leadership skills adding a silver lining. Ashish is a passionate sportsman & has represented his school & colleges in competitive sporting events across Football & Cricket and is currently trying his hand at Competitive Squash. He has instilled great values within Square Off Management which makes the pillars of the firm stronger as years pass-by.

“Sports has been my passion since childhood and one of my biggest drive in life was to start an organisation which promotes not just sports across the board, but looks into the grassroots solutions to making Sports a lucrative profession. We at Square Off Sports believe out of the Indian population of more than 1 billion, India has got unlimited potential in every kind of sport nationally and internationally. What is needed is greater contribution from the private sector.  

We’ve definitely seen a huge shift in the last few years, in people’s awareness and interest in staying well and healthy. People also want to experiment with different ways of staying fit.

With this thought we conceptualised - Swimmathon @ Square Off Sports, which is now one of the feathers in the cap, with its recent recognition in the sporting fraternity, we would like to keep taking Swimmathon to the High Sea.”

Sachin Girishkumar – Chief Operating Officer & Co-founder

A diversified & learned individual with an MBA from Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad and a Masters in Computer Applications from VJTI, Mumbai, Sachin has experience in consulting and assisting global clients and has also worked in USA & UAE.

His 15+ years of work experience makes him an expert in Program management & Operations whether it’s on a large or small scale. Operational skills & setting process in place are his expertise. Sports has been in his realm from college days as the Captain of the S.I.E.S College Cricket team representing the College in the University Tournament, this gives him an edge to understand the nerve of today’s sports enthusiasts. Also a keen student of sports, Sachin has been an avid follower of multiple sports across the globe.

“Reading, watching & discussing Sports always gave me the high in life especially the technicalities of the sport. Square Off sports was the space where we fulfilled our dreams by giving a platform to young sporting talent.

Swimmathon was one of those platforms – which we felt can become a pedestal to the international arena, & so it is with our recent achievement to making it an Open Water National Selection for Kazan, Russia.”

Rajesh Gupta – Executive Director & Co-founder

A hard working and quality conscious individual with over 25 years of entrepreneurial experience his ability to drive new initiatives and known for his quirky thinking, Rajesh is a Commerce graduate from Mumbai University.

Setting up his own business from scratch & scaling operations, he has a deep understanding of running day to day business operations, negotiations, and vendor management to franchisee roll-out programs. An extrovert by nature, he loves making friends and conversing with people at all levels, his pleasant personality is widely recognized & helps him in people management creating Operational efficiency & building revenue streams for the organization. His knack to build successful public-private partnership is the organization’s key to strong relationships with Government & Public authorities.

“Strategic operations of any venture to make it profitable has been forte, when it came to sports and making this a viable business module was an exciting venture. We worked intrinsically keeping in mind the people perceptions and making Sports a lucrative profession for the masses through Square Off Sports.

Swimmathon is one of our major sporting ventures that we looked at giving the youth of India another reason to make sports their passion & profession.”

What we do:

Taking the vision to a dynamic level, Square off Sports has opened a brand new vista for aspiring young sportsmen and sportswomen. 

•          Sports Management & Training Programs for Corporates, Schools & Education Associations.

•          Sports centric training programs &  camps for schools, clubs @ residential complexes, academies and gymkhana clubs.

•          Public Relations & Athlete Representation

•          Complete Sports management outsourcing.

•          Vacation camps

•          Global Exchange Programs

These programs have been delivered successfully at marquee clients like Podar International School, SM Shetty International School, Hiranandani Group, etc.

Our experience in managing & working with Equipment manufacturers, Sports infrastructure providers, Sports professionals gives us the required expertise to consult clients across the spectrum in –

•          Infrastructure Development

•          Sports Psychology

•          Sports Career Guidance

•          Coaches Clinics & Umpire Seminar Programs

•          Nutrition & Diet Consulting

SWIMMATHON 2015

Swimmathon, a property of Square Off Sports, was ideated, developed as the premier open sea swimming competition in India.

Initiated in February 2012 at Gateway of India, Mumbai, Swimmathon 2012 had a participation of 150 swimmers from across the state of Maharashtra. Putting focus in the newest Olympic sport, Open Water Swimming, Square Off Sports has successfully scaled this event to have 800 participants in the 3^rd year in January 2014.

Square Off Sports decided to take this event to the next level by taking this event to Goa, getting official accreditation from the Swimming Federation of India (SFI) where the winners of Swimmathon 2015 in the 10K and 5K category get automatic entry into the Indian team for the FINA World championship 2015, Kazan, Russia.

True to its vision, Square Off Sports has provided swimmers across the country a platform wherein they can showcase their talent and get due recognition & rewards.