"I felt the time was right to hone my craft and to up-skill on a global stage."

Although his first degree was in engineering, Arvind Suresh has always had a passion for sports, a flair for sales and a desire to find a career that would combine his two strengths.

Upon completion of his undergraduate degree, he thus decided to change paths – something he remembers as being a tough decision at the time.

‘After a few interesting turns of events, I landed a job with a sport management firm in Bangalore, India and headed-up their sales team.

‘Since, I have worked in various roles across different business verticals and projects, including the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, ICC World T20 2016 and the IPL,’ he says.  

While Arvind enjoyed working in the sport industry in India, he soon felt the time was right to hone his craft and to up-skill on a global stage.

‘I figured a reputed sport management degree would do just that.’

Choosing Deakin Business School in Australia was an easy decision he explains. ‘Deakin has the best ranked and longest running sport management master’s program in Australia, and Melbourne is widely regarded as the sport capital of the world and has an unparalleled reputation for hosting sport events,’ he says.

The course structure available through the Master of Business (Sport Management) also suited his needs with a mix of sport management and general management units including Sport Marketing, Sport Broadcasting, Athlete Management, Facility and Event Management, Financial Reporting, Strategic Management and more. 

Another draw card was that the program is designed in collaboration with a strong and active advisory board including Cricket Australia, Tennis Australia, AFL, IMG, and VicSport among others.

Arvind was also lucky to be the recipient of the 2016 NDTV Deakin Scholarship, a 100 per cent tuition fee scholarship, which will support his studies from day one, right through to graduation.

‘It is a great gesture from Deakin University and NDTV to come up with this scholarship and it is indeed life changing and opens up a world of opportunities to live your dreams.’

Arvind his currently in his first trimester of study and already feels comfortable and confident that he will learn a lot during his time at Deakin.

‘We have already had two guest lectures by industry leaders, giving us key insights into the challenges that await us as future sport managers. They have been invaluable.’

Apart from in-class learning, Arvind hopes to absorb the industry knowledge and culture Melbourne has to offer, by exposing himself to all things sport.

In the future, Arvind hopes to work in a management position for major sport events and contribute towards the development of sport in his country, India.

‘Apart from sales and management, I also love coaching, science and psychology. Sometime later in my career, I’d like to be associated with high performance coaching and development of athletes.’