It’s a SEA of opportunities at IIT-Madras for academically gifted athletes

“That was the champion time of my life. If it wasn’t for SEA, I would beryllium pursuing machine subject astatine (IIT) Patna,” says Vangala, who won a nationalist title successful 2018.

Like him, 4 different athletes were admitted to IIT-Madras past twelvemonth nether SEA. Launched successful 2024, the strategy is simply a crippled changer for academically talented athletes since it offers them supernumerary seats and a accidental to proceed their diversion careers. Of the 22 IITs successful India, lone IIT-Madras offers this strategy astatine present.

Mahesh Panchagnula, head, Center of Excellence successful Sports Science and Analytics (CESSA), IIT-Madras, says, “We admitted our archetypal batch nether the programme successful July 2024.”

IIT-Madras started the sports analyzable successful July-August 2024 and invested astir Rs 25 crore successful the infrastructure required by SEA athletes.

The genesis of SEA lies successful 5 field suicides betwixt September 2022 and April 2023. Looking for a solution to the crisis, the administration, among different steps, conducted humor tests.

Prof Kamakoti had told The Indian Express recently, “Some of our students did not person Vitamin D astatine all. They ne'er saw the prima due to the fact that they were ever studying… So past year, we launched SEA. We person 34 seats — 17 gender-neutral and 17 for women. My connection is, ‘Go and play, and you volition inactive person a accidental to get into IIT-Madras’.”

To suffice for admittance nether SEA, candidates should person won astatine slightest 1 medal astatine a nationalist oregon planetary lawsuit successful a athletics recognised by federations nether the national athletics ministry successful the past 4 years, scored astatine slightest 75% successful their Class 12 committee exams and cleared the JEE (Advanced) test. Instead of applying done the Joint Seat Allocation Authority portal, they registry connected a website operated by IIT-Madras.

Then, determination is the Sports Rank List (SRL) and the “prestige” of a competition. SRL is simply a constituent system, nether which an planetary golden medal means 100 other points and 35 points for a nationalist golden medal. A competition’s prestige means that an planetary lawsuit should see information by astatine slightest six nations and by 50% of states successful a nationalist event. In lawsuit of a tie, the campaigner with higher planetary points is fixed preference.

The Indian Express spoke to 4 of 5 students who got admittance to IIT-Madras past twelvemonth nether SEA. A portion of their institute’s teams, they accidental they signifier successful the evening since their classes commencement astatine 8 am.

Though tract tennis is not a fashionable athletics successful Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool, Vangala’s father, a instrumentality of the game, made his past 7-year-old lad instrumentality it up to bounds his surface time.

Teased by friends who recovered tract tennis “expensive and difficult”, Vangala’s instauration to tract tennis was “not easy”. Then determination was his archetypal lucifer erstwhile helium was successful Class 4. “I mislaid the archetypal circular and cried bitterly. After that, I practised hard. In Class 6, I played my 2nd nonrecreational lucifer and won,” says Vangala.

He adds, “I privation each IITs had this initiative. Sports are large for one’s intelligence health. Besides, sportsmanship teaches resilience.”

Delhi’s Prabhav Gupta, 18, a national-level array tennis player, is pursuing the aforesaid people arsenic Vangala astatine IIT-Madras.

“I person been playing array tennis since I was six. I played for amusive astatine first. Soon, it turned into a passion. I adjacent competed astatine the authorities level. After I became the fig 2 subordinate successful Delhi, I started competing professionally,” helium says.

During the pandemic, Prabhav says helium could not play array tennis for 3 months. “I spent each my clip studying and developed an involvement successful science. But balancing sports and studies was tough, particularly successful Class 12.”

And now, Prabhav is present pursuing 2 of his dreams: studying AI, peculiarly successful applications related to sports, astatine IIT and playing array tennis. “My favourite spot connected field is the array tennis hallway successful the sports complex. I signifier determination daily,” helium says.

SEA came arsenic a lifeline for Aryaman Mandal, 19, a h2o polo subordinate from West Bengal’s Midnapore. Diagnosed with a breathing occupation astatine the property of three, helium says his doc recommended swimming arsenic a remedy. But it wasn’t until Aryaman joined h2o polo that helium discovered his existent potential. In 2022, helium was connected the authorities squad that bagged a golden medal astatine a nationalist tournament.

Pursuing BTech successful machine subject and engineering astatine IIT-Madras now, Aryaman says, “Since I could not halt swimming completely, I prepared for JEE during the past fewer months. It was the champion time of my beingness erstwhile I learnt that I was going to articulation IIT-Madras. Water polo is an underrated athletics successful India but I anticipation to correspond the state successful the athletics astatine the Olympics.”

Delhi’s Nandini Jain, 18, a national-level squash player, is pursuing the aforesaid people arsenic Aryaman astatine IIT-Madras. Nandini says she decided to effort retired the athletics connected a proposition by her father, a squash player.

“I realised I had imaginable successful squash the infinitesimal I stepped onto the court. The dependable of the shot hitting the partition sparked thing successful me,” she says.

Calling squash “a awesome of resilience”, Nandini adds, “Continuing my grooming without the changeless unit of choosing betwixt squash and academics was a godsend.”