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Lakshmi
Mittal Launches Mittal Champions
Trust Lakshmi Mittal, Chairman and Chief Executive of Mittal Steel Company, the world’s largest and most global steel company today announces the launch of the Mittal Champions Trust (“The Trust”). The Mittal Champions Trust has been set up in order to identify, support and enhance the performance of talented young Indian sportsmen and women (“the athletes”). The ultimate goal of the Non Profit Trust is to improve the performance of India at the major global sporting events, Starting with the Asian Games in 2006, followed by 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 Asian Games and ultimately 2012 Olympics Games in London. The Trust will invest Rs 40 crores to provide the chosen youngsters with the highest quality training available for their sport. The youngsters will be identified from three different age brackets: 17 and above, 13 – 17 year olds and 10 –12 year olds. The Trust has already signed its first athlete, squash player Joshna Chinappa, and is in talks with various others whom it hopes to sign shortly. Commenting
Mr. Mittal said: “The
intention is that this Trust can help improve the performance of Indian
athletes at the world’s major sporting events. When Mahesh first raised
the idea with me and Amit, I immediately recognized that we had the
opportunity to really make a difference and help India climb to the top of
the medals podium at the world’s major sporting events. I am delighted
that we have been able to attract the interest of some Indian’s top
sportsmen to help us achieve our goals. Their experience and knowledge will
be invaluable in helping us identify and nurture the right talent. We have
already identified the first elite athlete and I very much look forward to
seeing her career develop over the next few years. Amit
Bhatia, Lakshmi Mittal’s son-in law, and the person driving the initiative
on behalf of th Mittal Family, said: “The
primary vision of the Trust is to achieve sporting excellence at the
international level. Just as India has now become a world figure in the IT
and corporate sectors, it is time to fulfil our full potential in sports.
Our goal is to turn India’s sporting talents into India’s medal winners.
We want to harness the best talent in our country and provide them
with the best training and technology in the world. The Trust will not only
target the very young athletes whom we would have to groom from scratch but
also the already established ones who just need that little extra boost to
break through. Commenting
Mahesh Bhupati said: “
The Trust is not only here to finance the athlete’s training, but also to
use the knowledge and expertise of our champions to identify, train,
monitor, motivate and make the talent reach the very top. Attention will be
given to every aspect that makes a sportsman successful. The Trust also
recognizes that in today’s world sport is also a business. With this in
mind, the athletes’ careers will be managed by Globasport – a
professional management company that guides and manages India’s leading
athletes”. The successful young athletes will be selected by a special advisory board, which comprises Mr. Bobby George (athletes) and Mr. P. Gopichand (Badminton). The advisory Board’s role will be to identify and nurture the successful athletes, including advising on training and travel schedules. Additionally Ms. Manisha Malhotra has been appointed Administrator for the Trust and will handle all the day-to-day operations of the Trust. The Trust will only comprise of already proven champions at the advisory level who know what it takes to succeed at the Elite level. There is also a Board of Trustees, comprising Mr. Lakshmi N. Mittal, Mr. Amit Bhatia, Mr. Mahesh Bhupathi and Mr. Rahul Dravid. Manisha
Malhotra added: “ Everyone with the Trust sees this as an opportunity to make a big difference to sport in India. Everyone complains after we come back from the Olympics that we don’t win enough medals but no one ever takes any real action. For the first time someone has stepped up to the challenge and is willing to take an initiative which I believe can make a big difference. What Mr Mittal is doing is a wonderful sign for Indian Sport and I hope this opens up other avenues as well.” THE MITTAL CHAMPIONS TRUSTRenowned as one of the
successful industrialists in the world, Mr Mittal, knows the sacrifices and
work it takes to become the best and is now set to provide the opportunity
to our talented Indian sports person to do the same. He is striving to take
Indian sport, one of the worst performers at the Olympic game, to amongst
the one of the contenders within Asia at the very least. The Trust is the
brainchild of Mr L. N. Mittal and Mahesh Bhupathi. Being a world champion in
tennis, Mahesh has always wanted to give something back not only to tennis
but to sport in his country. During Wimbledon this year, he broached with Mr
Mittal and The Trust was born. The days of under’ achieveing are over, The
Mittal Champions Trust is here forever alter the face of Indian sport. The
Mittal Champions Trust and all its members only want the best for India and
all its athletes. We are going to leave no stone unturned and never do
anything that would hinder the progress of the athletes. “We are going to
work in corporation and synergy with the different sports associations. If
the sports authorities happens to identify a prospect and have any hurdle,
we would be happy to step in and provide any necessary facilitation” says
Mahesh. The Trust looks to kick off on November 15. STRUCTURE
The Trust will
comprise of an executive board, advisory Board and an administrator. We will
add more members to the above boards as and when necessary. TRUSTEES
Mr.
L. N. Mittal ADVISORY BOARD
Mr. Bobby George
(athlete) JOB DESCRIPTIONThe duties of the advisory board will include helping select talent, advice on training and travel schedule of the athletes, and be hands on in the grooming process. SELECTION PROCESS The Trusty is looking
to start with ten prospects. The Trust will work
with the various associations and use all our independent consultants and
advisors to assess the best talent available in the country. The board of advisors
will devise a method to assess an athlete. These methods will be based on
factors such as performance, results, drive, commitment and future
potentials. The process of assessment will not only involve people on our
board but also experts in their respective field as consultants to give us
an unbiased judgment on the athlete. Once the talent is
chosen the advisory board along with the athlete and his/ her family will
come up with a plan to achieve the athletes full potential. We will then
send the athletes to the best training centers in the world to train and
develop their competitive schedule with the help of their coaches and
advisors. Q & A’S 1) How do you plan out to reach out to talent in all corners of the country? We plan to work with all the Sports Associations in the country to find out which athletes are doing well in the respective sports. Also, as a athletes we all have friends in the sports fraternity as well as the press to keep us informed. At the same time we do plan to be at all National Events to scout for talent. Last but not the least we do hope that we get enough recognition and exposure through the press to ensure people to contact us. 2) What are the plans with reference to training the athletes, their career paths, guidance, etc? We plan to provide these athletes with the best training, in India or internationally. As far as career paths are concerned, the board of advisors along with the athletes and their families will decide, as a team, as to which would be the best approach. Since our team consists of established athletes, we will be concentrating on consulting and motivating the athlete and not just the financial angle. 3) Once the athletes reach the highest level or turn pro, what role will the trust play? As and when the athletes turn pro, and are probably self sufficient through endorsement and other avenues of income aided or facilitated by us, they would not require assistance from the trust. Further to this, we do hope that the athletes will then continue to appreciate our contribution towards their careers and contribute to the trust to help the future generations of athletes. 4) Will Mr Mittal be the only source of finance for the trust? Yes. 5) Will the trust be open to considering young aspiring sports persons that approach the trust directly? Yes, definitely. The trust will have a website by the 15th of November with all contact details. 6) What expenses of the athlete does the trust intend to cover? The trust plans to take on all sports related expenses of the athlete which include training, competitions, fitness, nutritional requirements etc. 7) Is there an order of preference for the sports that the trust will target? As a trust our focus will be on overall sporting talent in India. However, we will be essentially looking at potentially successful talent in sports where there is a paucity of funds. Contact Manisha Malhotra |
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I
have no plans to work for Mittal Steel, says Amit Bhatia |
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Amit’s involvement in
the Mittal Trust is a manifestation of this fondness. “I am going to be
very involved in the trust. The aim of the trust is to fund sports which
aren’t considered very glamorous like badminton, swimming or squash. The
idea is to put those sports on the map. I want to do all that I can.” Just before Amit walks away to join his father-in-law, one last questions - Did he enjoy his second interview? “Oh! I did,” he says, flashing another disarming smile. SOURCE - DNA : http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=9246&CatID=7 |
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