International Institute of Sports Management Review By Subhechchha Ghatak

IISM is less known college but it is affiliated with Mumbai University and offers a PGP in Sports Management which many others not. The institute has tie-ups with many national and international sporting bodies. We were taught the basics of how to make sports a profitable business as most of the sports played in India other than Cricket, Golf and Badminton are government aided sports. Through IISM, I got to work for National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and got placed with National Rifle Association of India. The course is purely for those who understand sports and know that the content can be sold. While we were studying there, we saw the rise in Indian Kabaddi and the people who are working are Pro Kabaddi league are students who have passed out from here. Many people in India don't understand sports but as a sports lover and now sports management students, we will surely take sporting world to the place where it should be.

It’s just an 11 months course and two months out of it were spent in internship. The books that we read or the content that we had in our curriculum; one can easily find that in YouTube. Many sports franchises have even started their own online programs but IISM still stands out as it is a private university but our certificate was awarded by the University of Mumbai. IISM did one good thing in academics and that was to make us bold. We were asked to mail to sporting bodies on a daily basis and see whether they actually need helping hands. Making a career in sports in India is tough and making a career as a sports manager is even tougher.

The college’s faculty were sports enthusiasts and someone who knew the business model of all the sports. Some of them have worked in NBA leagues and European football clubs. IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals owners Manoj Badale was invited for various guest lectures. Along with them many sporting icons including Virender Sehwag who many might not know owns a sports management company were invited. So, meeting our childhood heroes and getting to know in-depth about sports management was taught really well by the faculty of IISM.

Well after spending nearly 8-9 lakhs of my family, I am doing a job worth 40k as my job still is not of the pole position even after working for over three years. Many students from my batch call IISM as Interested in Scam Multipurpose. I will not blame the college here as every kid who go and burn themselves in the sun, dreams of playing nationals. Out of every 10k, 1 gets that opportunity. Likewise, by choosing this course, I knew I am digging a hole but I want to make a mark in this field was my only motto. Thus, I am working in an industry for which, I am passionate about and a certificate from IISM in my CV has helped get a job in this field. Thus, if anyone thinks they will be working with BCCI, or any rich IPL franchise after doing course from here, then please put all your dreams to rest. Yes, some students were placed with Star Network, and some ISL franchise but the numbers were very few.

The college is not that small but there’s no space to accommodate a hostel building. There are many colleges in Andheri, Juhu, Ville Parle and therefore finding a space is pretty easy. For a girl coming from Kolkata and asking parents to give 25k a month for rent was pretty tough. Never knew Mumbai is that expensive but I found a nice space in touching distance from the campus.

The college is close to international airport. The college building, a small playground and rest space is eaten by parking area. The building was amazing as it was fully air-conditioned and had almost everything. The classes were amazing and the conference rooms where most of our meetings and discussions were held were superlative. The auditorium of the seminar hall was small but it lit up with the presence of many celebrities that came during my time. From sports journalist Shekhar Gupta, television presenter Jatin Sapru, to sporting legends like Leander Paes and Virender Sehwag. The canteen was amazing as besides normal food, it also served ice-creams and pastries. The small sports ground was mostly used by the undergrad students for playing football.

One thing that everyone should understand on why Mumbai is a dream city. Girls can feel much safer here as Mumbai is probably one of those cities where biasedness towards a certain gender is high is non-existent. The campus life was therefore accommodating as we were a handful of girls in a class that only had boys, but we were never left to feel alone. I used to play football and TT along with the guys. I loved my campus life and more than that my life in Mumbai city.