November was mostly about working hard towards my dream and getting a small slice of it. Two significant things happened to me last month, and I will talk about it in this blog.
In India, I worked in the sports industry for the past decade. So when I decided to move to Cardiff to pursue my Master’s degree, the choice remained unchanged. Accordingly, I started connecting with people in the UK, expressing my interest in working in the sports industry and making some great connections.
One such connection happens to be Rajma Begum. My preliminary conversation with her was about my work in the Asian market and how I could contribute and learn. Soon after, I joined the planning team to organise the first-ever Wales Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards (WEDSA).
Six months of long hours, intense work, reaching out to the finalists, sending emails, posting, scheduling and rescheduling innumerable times, jotting down every detail finally bore fruit on December 1, 2023.
It was the awards night.
The room was packed with the Deputy Sports Minister, stakeholders from sports associations, sponsors, finalists and their families. I was supposed to handle the presentation but later doubled up as a DJ (thank God, I always played music at house parties) because the DJ could not make it to the event. I believe I did a decent job handling two different things on a split-screen laptop. My partner, Riya, accompanied me, and even she gushed that it did not look like an inaugural event as everything was so professional and well-planned.
I think this whole experience helped me to learn so much, and I’m grateful to the entire team and Rajma for believing in me and giving me my first sports experience in the UK.
There was another experience that was unexpected and will always remain close to my heart. You may feel I said the same thing for WEDSA, but if you read till the end, you will understand what I mean.
From Day 1, I knew volunteering in the sports industry was the only way to learn more about the UK sports culture. I came across a requirement for volunteers at Badminton Wales for the Yonex Welsh International and applied immediately.
As my luck would have it, my CV reached the CEO, Kelly Aston (three-time Olympian and former CWG gold medalist!) and she felt it was impressive. Kelly asked if she could forward my CV to the Chair of Badminton Wales. I immediately said, yes, and that I would be so grateful. Before I knew it, I had exchanged emails with the Chair, Peter Hybart, who asked me to come down next week and meet him.
The meeting went well. I told Peter my plans for the organisation and how we could improve. Honestly, never in my life have I met a man so humble. In just that one meeting, I learned so much from him – his poise and the way he carried himself and talked.
Here comes the best part. Peter and Kelly thought that with my experience and ideas, I could add value to the core strategic team and onboarded me as a Board Member at Badminton Wales.
Now you know why I said this experience was memorable?
I’m not done yet. Remember I registered to volunteer? That is still left!
So, when the tournament started, I went on to volunteer for the event. Even though I had little work on the first day, other days, I mostly enjoyed watching some top-notch skills on display. On the final day, I was even asked to hand over awards to the runners-up in women’s doubles and the winners of men’s doubles, which I will always cherish.
On that note, I’m done with another month in Cardiff, doing what I love, and I will be back in December, sharing how that month went.
Till then, bye and take care.