Bringing Badminton Back with a Swing: Badminton Gurukul with Supriya Devgun
“The story is on your side. Never on the other side.” Check out our interview with Indian Entrepreneur Supriya Devgun. She had the courage to dream and feels blessed for the opportunity to script a new story for the sport of badminton along with the entire team at Badminton Gurukul, one of India’s Best Badminton Coaching Classes in India, and has a record of delivering world-class badminton champions. In this interview, she shares her journey as a woman founder and how Indian women can pursue opportunities in sports entrepreneurship!
“The story is on your side. Never on the other side.” These priceless pearls of wisdom were bestowed on me by my dear friend Gopi, better known as Padma Bhushan Pullela Gopichand - the face of Indian sport and an unwavering support behind the success story that is now the “Badminton Gurukul”. “Gurukul” is a word used to describe a type of school.
The idea of setting up an initiative like the Badminton Gurukul was born of my unrelenting passion for sport, initiated by Gopi and backed by our Chairman Mr. Ravikumar Swaminathan (also Vice Chairman of TVS Logistics Group). For as long as I can remember, I have actively played in, and frequently won, all kinds of sports through school and college days, but always as a recreational player. Years later when I was drawn back to my true passion, I realized that in order to be taken seriously, I had to play professionally. So, at the not-so-tender age of 35, I started training again – choosing badminton as my forte – and went on to play, and win, several titles including the BWF World Senior Championship Bronze Medal, National Champion in Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles for many years consecutively.
With P.V. Sindhu (Silver Winner in the 2016 Olympic Games, Padma Bhushan 2020), Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa
Simultaneously, I was given the opportunity to work with government entities at the central and state level to organize sporting events such as the Badminton Premier League, India Open, Veteran’s Cup etc. I was fuelled by the desire to make a real difference to the sport, both in India and globally. That’s when it became apparent to me that what was lacking was the proper institutionalization of badminton in the country. The need of the hour was an inclusive eco-system that balances creativity and structure; that focuses on physical literacy; an opportunity for ex-achievers to have a second-wind career; a platform that makes excellence accessible. And those were the very foundation stones on which we built Badminton Gurukul - a game-changer for the sport, to which I was now able to bring my multifaceted experience as a player, administrator and entrepreneur.
“I realized that most decision makers are men and they feel like you got the job either because you’re a good-looking woman or somebody’s pet, but never on your own merit. You always have to perform extraordinarily for your opinion to count.”
Yes, there were roadblocks and politicking along the way, as well as having to face gender bias and patriarchy throughout my journey. Starting right from playing practice games at home clubs, where boys would refuse to play with girls because they claimed we were not good enough. I always wondered whether we were really not good enough or whether they were scared to lose to a girl? And then later, as an entrepreneur, I realized, most decision makers are men and they feel like you got the job either because you’re a good-looking woman or somebody’s pet, but never on your own merit. You always have to perform extraordinarily for your opinion to count.
But there were also angels such as Mr. Ravikumar - my father figure, guide, mentor and the man who gave me wings; Mr. Sonjoy Chatterjee who brings his invaluable expertise in scale and growth as Chairman of Goldman Sachs India to our advisory board; Pullela Gopichand for his rock solid and selfless support; Mr. Prem Rajani - a deadly combination of a legal man with a commercial aptitude and, of course, the first two women to come on board - Aparna Popat and Asawari Parmar – together we stood for woman power! And every other Guru, Mentor, Coach, colleague, student and parent, behind the success of Badminton Gurukul; a success that I define as the number of lives we can touch, rather than the amount of money we can make or the medals we can win. It is a journey that we have just begun, towards writing a new chapter, a new story and a new book for the growth of badminton. There are many more miles to come and we will take them one step at a time.