Courtesy: sportzpower.com

Published: 8th August, 2011.

NEW DELHI: The Indian Tigers team is leaving for Australia on 10 August for the International Cup 2011, the Australian Football tournament, armed with a variety of sponsors that shows that even an unknown sport can find financial support for basic survival if the effort is earnest.
This is the second time that the Indian team will play in the once-in-three years International Cup, or the world cup for Australian Rules Football, which 17 teams will participate in, excepting Australia since it is their national sport and they want other countries to win, not monopolise the Cup. This style of football arrived in India in 2008 and since then is slowly picking up pace.
Twenty one-year-old Sudip Chakraborty told SportzPower that an Australian Company, Speedy Promotions is providing the Team India T-shirts, while Celebrate India Inc is chipping in with general help, inckuding hosting a few dinners for the team in Australia. This is an NRI organization in Australia.
Richmond Football Club, hosts of the Indian team in Australia, are providing team jerseys and other playing kit, a chance to train at their stadiums, use their infrastructure first hand and also hosting a few dinners. The Indian team is wearing their jersey colours this time, in black and yellow.
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan – Australia – has become the biggest Indian sponsorship entity coming in with a financial help of around A$ 3,000.
“I am an ex student of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Kolkata along with another team mate. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is the only institution which had sponsored the Indian Team in the International Cup 2008 as well, because Bhavan’s alumni were in the team.
It is interesting to note that after the first round of energy burst which led to Ricky Ponting boosting Australian Football in Kolkata in 2008, the initialmanagers of the sport lost their appetite for pushing it further, but even the new team under Sudip have managed small, but significant sponsors.
Thus it is that Mega Cabs – Kolkata – is providing a complete complementary cab service in the city for promoting Australian Football league – India.
Australian sports management expert Peter Jess is getting financial help along with promotions for the Indian team. “His involvement is future oriented, since he is backing the ‘AussieX’ programme which will be launched in India later this year. This is a programme run by an Australian named Emile Studham in Canada, where they have taught around 70,000 school students, the game of Australian Football. Emile, with the help of Jess, is going to launch Aussie X Internationale-India very soon, which will help the sport develop from grassroots here, by teaching school students,” Sudip told SportzPower.

Jata Consultants, Accountants & Auditors – Melbourne, VIC, will most probably be sponsoring the team’s accommodation in Melbourne.

“The Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata branch, has invited us to present Australian Rules Football to their students and organize an exhibition match at their campus, in front of the West Bengal media. Australian media from Delhi is also expected at the event. This is a big platform to promote the game and the sports consultant at the Institute – Pradipto Kr. Roy – a Taekwondo Hall of Fame member, took the initiative personally to make this possible,” Sudip said.

However, it is Australian Football League (AFL) – the parent of the sport – that is the main source of funds for the Indian team. Impressed by the efforts put in to develop the game in India, and considering the lack of sponsorship for the sport in India, AFL has stepped in to fill the gaps and are sponsoring the flights and various other necessities.