Somaiya University Makes Sports A Part Of Academics, Reveals Big Plans Ahead

Somaiya Vidyavihar University is reshaping the idea of sports and academics as they embark on a journey that amalgamates the both seamlessly. Sports is a compulsory subject in some of the courses, with students having the option to choose one sport in semester one and a different sport in semester two. 

Eklavya sports academy came to life in 2016, and now offers coaching in 17 different sports. Along with this, it is also a designated department offering BSc, and MBA in sports, with MSc in sports starting this year. Phd in Physical Education is also in the pipeline as well. “Students from any background can opt for our course, being from a science background is not a prerequisite,” said Azaaz Khan, director at Somaiya Sports Academy. 

Credit-based system

The university also provides credit based scores to the colleges that are still affiliated to Mumbai University, like Somaiya polytechnic college and junior colleges. The students get to decide amongst the ten sports offered to them and are assessed at the end of the semester. “Credit based system means that the students are actually learning something and are not just exploring. This also aligns with NEP and ensures that the students are gaining a skill,” said Khan. 

Options available to some courses

For colleges that come under Somaiya trust, they have an option to choose between culture and sports. While for some courses such as for KJ Somaiya College of Science and Commerce, sports is compulsory. For engineering students however, sports are compulsory in the first year but understanding the study requirements, this changes from second year onwards. For junior colleges, special sports are compulsory as well. 

Khan said, “The course spans for an hour and a half, which blends according to UGC guideline and after that the students are assessed, thus eliminating the possibility of them not showing up the next day.” He added, “we take sports very seriously and thus, if a student fails in a sport they have chosen, they would have to give the test again, otherwise their whole semester gets stuck. This ensures that the students are actually learning something and foster sportsmanship and sports ethics.”

In order to ensure that all the sports are given importance and the students don’t just follow a sport for its popularity, there are seats reserved in each sport and there is a switch between chosen sports each semester. Aditya Singh, senior manager at Somaiya Sports Academy said, “Judo for example, is a sport that is not followed by many but our coach actually invites students and picks them from a sport if he sees potential in them.”

Students have the options to choose from football, badminton, squash, taekwondo, swimming, kickboxing, powerlifting, shooting 50 meter amongst others. 

Khan said, “the Somaiya schools as well as all the universities have access to coaches and sporting facilities since we want to promote sporting in all spheres, spanning across to our schools in the remote areas as well.”

Sports big in Somaiya Vidyavihar

For Poorva Hitesh Sawant who is a third year BCom student and has represented India in China as well as Kazakhstan in triple jump, Somaiya was the only college in the city that had synthetic tracks. “I have been coming to Somaiya since the last 12 years because of their tracks and now that I am a part of the college, they are sponsoring me in the competitions in which I took part,” she said. 

The Bsc programme in sports provides the students the exact science behind the sport. “The idea is to cultivate good coaches so that in the future we have our own in-house coaches and we don’t have to hire from outside. There is a screening process which all the students go through after which they are enrolled into the programme,” Khan said, adding that the University also provides full scholarship opportunities to students who are exceptionally well in a sport or come from a humble background. 

“I have played squash for India since the last eight years and have also participated in various national level competitions. I am a full scholarship student here and the kind of facilities and support that the academy provides is truly nice,” said Rahul Baitha who is a first year student pursuing Bsc in Yoga at Somaiya sports academy. 

Vaishnavi Kailash Sawant is also pursuing Bsc in sports and exercise science with an aim to enroll into Indian Army. “This course will help me a lot in my selection. I am also interning here currently in the sports operations department,” she said. 

Somaiya University is also planning to introduce four house systems amongst staff and students all across the universities will be divided. “The houses already exist at the school level, but now we are planning to introduce them all across the university to foster a sense of team spirit, strong sense of community and familiarity,” said Khan. 

There is also an app that helps the students with all the information regarding booking of the ground or notification about upcoming tournaments. There are tournaments which are especially planned for the staff as well. With a new sports academy opening soon in the Somaiya Ayurvihar campus as well, the campus is buzzing with sports tournaments and classes.