Imran will be overseeing the position of Program Manger for Student Athlete Development in 2015-2016, where he is looking forward to working with young people to come together towards global health equity. We take this opportunity to learn more about him.
Imran hails from Pune, India. He completed his undergraduate studies at Pune University majoring in Cost & Works Accountancy and holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Banking and Finance. During his studies, Imran played Cricket professionally representing his District, State as well as the University at regional and national tournaments. Aside from an impressive Athletic and professional career, Imran brings to TGP expertise in utilizing sport to revitalize communities, for example he has worked in the United Kingdom helping launch a program which used sports as a means to recruit persons with no qualifications or employment training classified as (NEET). Likewise, Imran worked with SE TransStadia Pvt. Ltd as “Manager- Coaching operations” spearheading strategic planning for establishing a financially sustainable Football club in Gujarat, India while directly managing on ground implementation and maintenance of delivery quality of its sports education programs in schools. With that impressive resume and skillset, Imran will be overseeing the position of Program Manger for Student Athlete Development in 2015-2016, lets give him a shout out and learn more about him in our rapid fire Q&A!
Q: Where is your favorite place you have traveled? 
London, United Kingdom & Jaipur Rajasthan (India)
Q:What are you most excited about doing over the next year with Grassroots?
I am really excited to work on and contribute towards the design and delivery of programs that use sport as a vehicle to meet development goals. Also travelling to another country and making new friends while experiencing their culture is a great source of excitement for me!
Q:Whats your favorite type of candy?(We’ll make sure we have it in the office! haha)
Swiss chocolate
Q:Who is your greatest role model, and why?
My greatest role model would be my erstwhile coach – Mr. Anwar Sheikh. Mr. Sheikh has had a great influence on me not only by helping me improve my sport specific skills but also by shaping my character and personality to a large extent. His biggest gift was to facilitate the process of self learning for his students. This has helped me find my own strengths by providing me with the tools to keep developing even in theabsence of a full time mentor.
Q:What’s your Grassroots nickname? (For this one, we all come up with nicknames becauseit makes it a lot more fun for the kids, and quite frankly for fun for us!)
My friends call me “Immi” but I am open to any nickname that will help me relate to the kids and my colleagues better .
Q:If you had to give anyone a SHOUTOUT right now, who would it be and why? (Shout-outsare how we praise the kids, and praise each other, so basically who would you tell “good- job” to now for something and why)
I will give a shoutout to my team back home in India. You guys are a wonderful bunch ofcoaches entirely committed towards the game and your athletes. It was a pleasure and a privilege having worked with you all from the early days of our sports program and the amazing success we have had!All the best and hope to rejoin you all soon
Q: If you have a favorite sport, what is it and who is your favorite team?(College or Professional)
Favourite Sport? Has to be Cricket for sure! And my favourite team is the Indian national side off course!
Q:Who is your favorite athlete?
Its got to be Abraham Benjamin (AB) De Villiers! Have never seen such an amazing multi talented whole hearted sportsman ever (has excelled in golf, rugby, badminton, cricket and tennis)! Go AB!
Q: If you were stranded on an island and got to bring three people with you, who would you bring?
Sanjeev Kapoor, the famous Indian chef for the mouth watering delicacies he can prepare out of common stuff, my best friend Sam and a shipwright maybe.. hehe!
