Sports Collaboration between the State of Victoria, Australia and IndiaThu 4th December 2014
Melbourne, Victoria is the most popular destination of study for Indian students coming to Australia, at 43 percent. Indian Students come to study a range of programs from Engineering, Sciences, Accounting, Business, and Technology to Hair dressing, Commercial Cookery etc.
We have TEN Universities in our state, of which EIGHT rank in the top 500 in the world and Australia’s leading University - University of Melbourne is ranked amongst the top 50 in the world according to Times Higher Education.
Victoria has more to offer beyond being a leading destination for international students; our educational institutions are also world leaders in delivering programs offshore and developing major international education partnerships across multiple disciplines. There is a thriving academic and research partnership between Victorian and Indian institutions nearly 200 of them across multiple disciplines, however there is a small and growing number of partnerships emerging in Sports.
The state of Victoria, Australia, has a strong sporting culture. Sports are an intrinsic part of Australian way of life. Victorian Universities have dedicated sports training and research centres with a capacity to undertake multi-disciplinary approach that can fulfill diverse research needs.
India has had long standing love for cricket, but most recently there’s a greater interest in other sports with a recognized need to building capacity within the system in all areas of sporting sciences.
Victoria University’s Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living recently collaborated with the Directorate of Sports & Youth Affairs Government of Kerala, in supporting their endeavor to become the premier sports state in India. In the last one year specialists from Victoria University have conducted Elite sports workshops targeted at sports administrators and coaches who will be organizing the 35th National Games held in Kerala in 2015.
The workshops are also part of a project that seeks to assist the Kerala government in improving the State’s elite sporting systems, advise the Kerala government about critical areas for improvements.
In addition to Victoria University, we also have Deakin and Latrobe Universities who have most recently been working with Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket teams. In September 2014, La Trobe University and IPL team Kings XI Punjab signed an agreement to tackle issues related to sport management. It also includes both Latrobe and the IPL team working on joint programs, activities, projects and research on training and education in the domain of sport management and science.
In a similar effort, Deakin University also partnered with another IPL team Rajasthan Royals. The partnership works on promoting Sports Education in India, as well as enables research into management and science aspects in sports and facilitates mutual projects such as case studies, IPL internships and scholarships opportunities.
With the scope for sports becoming a major mainstream area for study and collaboration, both Victoria and India looks to a meaningful partnership.
Information provided by the State Government of Victoria.
