Bengaluru, 19th July 2017: Pursuit India is pleased to announce its tie-up with the Australian College of Sport (ACS) to act as the ambassador for ACS in India and the rest of the Indian subcontinent. Pursuit will represent ACS for the purpose of scouting and recruiting student athletes to be admitted to the ACS’s sports programmes across basketball, football, cricket, badminton, swimming and golf.
This tie-up is a direct result of the Australian Prime Minister, Malcom Turnbull’s visit to India in April 2017, when the Indian and Australian Governments signed several MoUs, including one on sports. This MoU endeavours to connect Australia’s global reputation for sports excellence and expertise with India’s ambition to improve its sports administration and infrastructure.
The Australian College of Sport was established in Adelaide, Australia in November 2006, and focuses on individualized athlete development combined with formal education to prepare athletes for a professional playing career. In 2011, ACS launched its golfing programme in Melbourne and in 2015, expanded its basketball programme and opened a second campus in Sydney.
From an Indian perspective, this tie-up is intended to address the lack of coaching and training facilities in the country, allowing India’s most talented athletes to train and study in Australia’s world class facilities. The focus is on finding players in the age group of 17 to 22, where player development is crucial. Besides honing of pro athletes, ACS also delivers vocational education through its degree pathways with top tier Australian Universities such as Deakin University, University of South Australia and Torrens University.
“This tie-up is significant as it provides another pathway to young Indian athletes to develop their craft in a world-class environment. What’s more, the classroom education that ACS offers on sports development and management creates an opportunity for the student-athlete to build a career in the global sports industry,” said Vishnu Ravi Shankar, Director of Pursuit.
“Through this tie-up, we aim to get exposed to the right pool of talent in India and provide the right platform to aspiring athletes in India that are willing to compete professionally and exploring the sporting industry. Our High Performance Training Curriculum enables the athlete to achieve superior results,” said Stuart Roberts, CEO of ACS.
Specifically in the basketball space, this tie-up comes quick on the heels of other major developments, as national basketball player Amritpal Singh is currently playing for Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL) team Sydney Kings at the Atlas Challenge in China. If he is awarded a long term contract by the Kings, that could trigger a flurry of Indian kids going to Australia to train/play there. Just last week, another Indian national team player Vishesh Bhriguvanshi signed a training contract with NBL team Adelaide 36ers.
