Story 1: Life After Active Sports Career
Sports is a challenging career to choose. Athletes have to be really courageous and determined to deal with its ups and downs. In many ways physical sports is a dangerous career too and the risks are really high. I remember meeting an ex-triathlete on a train who had to quit sports after an ankle injury which got complicated as he failed 
to pay attention to. Sports professionals have an active life and many a times they don’t get enough time to look at things in different perspective too. It is a hard thing to change momentum I guess but sometimes situations force people to try different things. The ex-triathlete I met on the train was looking for some job opportunities that related to his background in sports. I thought he was perfect for a fitness coach or trainer but where could he find a suitable job?
Story 2: A Sales Issue
The industry of sports is vast. Wholesalers, manufacturers, retailers and service providers in sports make up a large segment of business on any e-Commerce site. With our booming yoga and crossfit culture, we are undoubtedly looking at massive growth in sports wear and merchandise products. However, even with our obsession with fitness and spectator sports, businesses are touching only the tip of the iceberg with online sales. In 2011, on a bus to my college in Ahmedabad, I met a sales rep from a small sports equipment company based in Meerut. We spoke about his company. They manufactured cricket bats, footballs and other equipment and he was travelling to Ahmedabad to make a pitch to a sports academy. I couldn’t help but notice that this sales guy was far from home so I asked him if his company made sales online. What he said was something that I can’t forget. He said his company has large export contracts too but online sales is always a dodgy thing as the competition is too high. They have to travel inevitably to secure contracts. Most sports purchases are done on personal references or tendering. As bulk purchases in sports equipment depend on the cost, fixed pricing like e-commerce websites don’t work in this case. “We have to constantly keep cold calling sports academies and keep an eye out for tender notices in newspapers for sports good procurement. There’s no way to bid for tenders online.”
Story 3: Talent Going Unnoticed
Some kids who live around my place play cricket every evening. There’s a 16 year old boy among them who has a talent for it. Although my interest in the sport plummeted after the match fixing scandals but often I don’t mind stepping in as a fielder for some good ol’ gully cricket. One day, after a street match, I asked this particular kid about his future goals and he was quick to reply that he was looking into sports. Aside from a vague idea as to why he wants to become a sportsperson, he had little idea about shaping a career in that direction. He has the physical attributes to become an athlete and probably can do good if he’s mentored properly but who will mentor him? “Why don’t you apply to a cricket academy?” I tried to suggest, to which he replied “I want to, but I don’t know who to approach. Do you know a cricket academy I could join?” I had no reply. The kid was honest and he expressed his parent’s inability to send him to a national cricket academy away from home. So then what opportunities could he have in this town?
All the above three stories are my real life experiences and for lack of better sports ecosystem these stories are far too common to find. For most part of my life till now, I had focused on academics and had little to do about sports but that was a different time. The world is changing and opportunities in sports are increasing fast. We need to create a platform where services and talent meet so that the benefits are shared by everyone in sports industry. This is why Shockfruit.com is conceived and probably the biggest reason why you should join this platform.