Combining passion for sport and business skills to build a strong culture of women’s sport in India

An emerging industry with tremendous possibilities on the horizon, sport is at the cusp of a global surge. It has transformed with dynamic career pathways opening up both on and off the field.

Students at Deakin have successfully combined a passion for sport with skills for delving into it professionally. For such students; sport becomes not just a career choice, but a way of life.

‘Sport has been a huge part of my life influencing my life and career goals and acquiring business skills at Deakin to support it has let me build upon my strengths professionally.’

Niddhi Mehta, an avid sportswoman from Mumbai, India has played basketball and handball at both the national and international levels. She decided to pursue her passion to explore professional outcomes with a wider community objective.

Niddhi believes in sport as a great community bond and studying her Master of Business (Sport Management) at Deakin has helped her amplify her skills to run key sport campaigns back home.

There is a huge potential to increase women’s participation and representation in sport and Niddhi is currently working to maximise it. She aspires to motivate others to indulge in an active lifestyle and embrace sport culture in daily life.

‘Sisters in Sweat bridges the gap in availability of a supporting community and space where women would feel motivated to come and participate in sport.’

Niddhi works for an organisation named Sisters in Sweat, looking after key operational aspects, community involvement and promotion. She is a champion for getting women back on field even if it is for recreational sports.

There are many who haven’t had the chance and encouragement to play at a younger age and Sisters in Sweat intends to create and build a self-supporting community of women who want a more active life for themselves.

Putting her learning at Deakin to use for a higher calling, she has been able to foster a platform for sport, social interaction and networking and a wellness support group for Indian women.

‘In India then, the scope to pursue the field was quite limited and in course of exploring courses around the world, I found Deakin a perfect place to start.’

Niddhi received huge support and encouragement to take up sport as a career. Standing out among all other options globally, she was impressed by Deakin’s Master of Business (Sport Management). It offered her everything she was looking for.

The vibrant and exciting multi-cultural life awaiting students in Australia motivated her to take the step forward and enrol at Deakin. Niddhi built her forte with an industry-led course that was supported with a comprehensive and well-structured curriculum at Deakin.

The critical advantage that Niddhi gained was the exposure and insight into the various management portfolios in sports industry, ‘learning isn’t confined to what you study at Deakin. It is a holistic process of building yourself professionally and personally.’

‘The domain knowledge with practical industry know-how of the Deakin faculty in the field of sport across management, development and more is a great resource for students like me.’

Niddhi was a part of the Social Entrepreneurship Club where she has made lasting friendships. She learned about utilisation of resources for sport development and organisation enriched by perspectives from people from different countries.

Every international student at Deakin is exposed to a nurturing atmosphere for learning, interning, networking, and build oneself as a global citizen and professional.

Encouraging students to come and see for themselves, Niddhi highlights the robust learning and hands-on practical study approach at Deakin that helped her immensely in the long run.

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