Three men get sporty with Playsports
It was time to up the game, to jack it up in the eyes of a disinterested spectator and catapult it to a twinkling winning spot. Cricket is acing at it, why not other sports, and so began the first steps of Playsports. Three men - Harisharan, Sharandeep and Sippy Sidhu put everything on the hold and jammed the accelerator on something that was a common amongst them - sports. “Totally passionate about it,” Harisharan takes a seat at the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association’s cafe and rolls out their concept - “Playsports is essentially a sports management company, a one-stop shop formed with an idea to promote and deliver a sports culture.” Which it did. The guys hit a home run first with the Akali versus Congress cricket match and then with the super success of the recent Punjab Gold Hockey Tournament. With grand opening and closing ceremonies, dazzling performances, merchandise and contests, Playsports made sure hockey reclaims its lost glory. “Hockey needs the glam quotient, and when we got the project, we barely had 20 days to get going,” tells Sharandeep adding how they set up graffiti boards, held road shows, handed out hockey sticks, held on the spot Q&As, et al. The result - the boys are now finalising deals with the Chandigarh Motor Association, CLTA, National Skating Association and the National Boxing Association. They are even New Zealand’s hockey team’s managers!
“What this country needs is sports awareness and a sports culture. Look at us! We don’t even run, and parents are least encouraging. Did you know that the Irish cricket team plays part-time? They work during the day and practice after hours! We can do that too, for it’s healthy and channelises all that extra energy,” says Harisharan, an engineer and MBA and a long-distance runner. So is Sippy Sidhu, who’s actually the brains behind Playsports concept. An ace award-winning shooter, he’s a law graduate and MBA, and former cop. “We gave it up for love of the games,” Sharandeep, an IT sales guy and tennis player, says the website, www.playsports.in will be ready in a short time. They are in it to set a trend, new standards, to get in corporate funding, build brands, roll more eyeballs for sports other than cricket and promote individuals. “This country has a huge spectrum of spectators, those who are ready to play, pay and watch. There’s immense talent and we are here just for it.” Are you game?
