Make the world a better
place by getting more
children to play
To build the world's largest youth sports platform that gets 100 million kids to play.
Salim Bharmal serves as the Business Head of ArenaZ and Head of Advocacy & Partnerships at Sportz Village, where he has been a core part of the team for 21 years since the company’s inception. He has played a pivotal role in building Edusports from scratch and has been involved in managing multiple sports properties and major events such as the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, the Indian Cricket League (ICL), and F1 ticketing.
Salim’s extensive experience combines leadership in sports management with expertise in sales, business development, and event execution, contributing significantly to Sportz Village’s mission of promoting structured sports and physical education across India.
In his current role, Shatadru is responsible for managing the Finance operations and governance across Sportz Village group companies. He brings with him 30 years of rich Finance experience gained across diverse sectors like Manufacturing, Renewable Energy, Education, and Sports Technology, amongst others. Prior to joining Sportz Village, he was the Interim Group CFO for a PE-controlled Education group.
An IIT Kanpur and IIM Lucknow alumnus, Shatadru has held CFO roles in MNCs like GE, Xerox & Boston Scientific apart from Indian listed corporates and VC-funded start-ups. In these roles, he has had the opportunity to set up and manage finance operations across India, US, Europe, and APAC regions and has led multi-cultural and multi-regional teams. Outside of work, Shatadru’s interests include cricket, music, and reading.
Nauzar currently leads the Customer Experience Group at Sportz Village. Prior to this, he managed several key verticals within the organization, including operations, delivery, supply chain and logistics.
He brings a diverse background, having worked across various industries from manufacturing to leadership roles in buying houses. In these roles, Nauzar focused on operational efficency. His sharp eye for business process improvement and process re-engineering has consistently helped organizations enhance profits and reduce costs.
Nupur currently heads Product at Sportz Village, aiming to provide ample opportunities for children to reach their full potential in sports, in a systematic school-led way. An alumna of BITS Pilani, Nupur has been driving Sportz Village’s product strategy and various New Initiatives to get kids to play, fall in love and/or excel in sports in a sustainable way! She also drives organization-wide Data strategy to unlock consumer and business insights.
With a passion to uplift sports as an important and enviable part of a child’s education, Nupur stepped into the sports industry post her stint in management consulting. She has previously worked with top-tier companies like Bain & Co, PwC and Nielsen in providing strategy consulting to large corporate firms in India and abroad. She has pursued Masters in Sports Administration from AISTS, Lausanne. Nupur loves to play sports and has been a Junior National level Cricket player.
Divyadeep Singh leads curriculum and training at Sportz Village, with a mission to make physical activity both enjoyable and integral to a child’s development. With 15 years of experience across leading organizations in the sports education space, he brings deep, cross-regional expertise.
He has been instrumental in designing the EduSports and Sports for Change curricula and led their digitization, enhancing accessibility and impact across schools. Divyadeep has also collaborated with government bodies on state-level PE curricula and has trained over 500 educators nationwide.
A co-creator of the “Toolkit for PE Teachers” course with IIT Madras (NPTEL), he continues to empower educators with practical, high-impact strategies. As a former Regional Manager, he expanded partnerships across 7 states and launched the Sportz Village App. A certified yoga trainer and former state-level hockey player, Divyadeep combines personal passion with professional purpose.
Upma leads brand strategy and storytelling at Sportz Village, shaping the organization’s voice and driving consistent, impactful communication across platforms. She has been instrumental in transforming marketing from a support function into a strategic growth driver, leading insight-led campaigns and sharp messaging that fuel engagement, business opportunities, and ecosystem awareness.
She oversees integrated marketing across all business verticals, aligning brand, sales, and product goals to position marketing at the core of Sportz Village’s demand generation and ecosystem-building efforts.
With an MBA in Marketing, Upma blends creative storytelling with strategic execution. Prior to Sportz Village, she held business development roles at The Times of India Group (BCCL), Reliance Broadcast Network (BIG FM) & ITC Ltd, where she consistently unlocked new market opportunities while also contributing to content, brand alignment, and client engagement, reflecting her natural affinity for marketing and communication.
Prateek combines a strong athletic background with extensive leadership and industry experience. A former Junior National-level badminton player, he completed his MBA from Nirma University, Ahmedabad and subsequently started his career in the banking and financial services sector, working at ICICI and Citibank. Since 2010, he has dedicated himself to developing School sports and currently serves as part of the leadership team at Sportz Village. In his tenure there, he has held various roles in Business Development, Operations and Human Resources, culminating in his current role as Head of HR & Advisory. His passion for sports remains undiminished as he continues to compete actively on the ITF Masters tennis circuit.
Abraham has been working with Sportz Village since 2010 and currently looks after Talent Acquisition and Onboarding for the group. He has worked in different roles during his tenure at Sportz Village inluding Training and Development, Employee Engagement, Business Operations and Recruitment. With almost two decades of work experience in different industries, he brings in his expertise in HR to improve processes and ensure business growth.
With over a decade of experience in the IT industry, Meenakshi serves as the Senior IT Manager at SportzVillage, where she has been driving technology excellence since 2016. She brings deep expertise in managing software development, system integration, and IT infrastructure, consistently delivering secure and scalable solutions. Meenakshi is known for her leadership in guiding cross-functional teams and aligning IT initiatives with business goals to enhance operational efficiency and foster innovation. Her strategic approach ensures continuous improvement in fast-paced, evolving environment
Sandeep Rao leads Corporate Partnerships at the Sports Village Foundation, driven by his passion for making sports accessible and empowering young people through social-emotional development.
In his current role, he designs structured CSR fundraising programs, fosters long-term strategic partnerships, and develops tailored solutions for donors, including Microsoft, KPMG, ASK Foundation, Chambal Fertilizers, and Campus, among others. His work ensures sustainable impact and engagement for both donors and beneficiaries.
Before leading fundraising efforts at SVF, Sandeep spearheaded private schools’ business in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, transforming it into one of the fastest-growing regions under his leadership. His expertise in strategic growth and partnerships continues to shape impactful initiatives across the education and sports sectors.
Arif heads operations for Sportz Village Foundation where he is responsible for managing all CSR based programs across the country. He comes from an engineering background and spent a decade in IT and financial services industry with organizations like Capgemini, Equifax Analytics and Finnable before deciding to pursue his passion for Sports. In his previous assignment with Finnable (a fintech start up), being the first employee helped scale the company to a 100 Cr book size with foot print across 6 cities and a team of 100 employees over a span of 3 years. Arif is an avid sportsperson and has played cricket at district level. He is an alumnus of T.K.M College of Engineering, Kerala.
With the cumulative experience of 19 years in sports, entertainment and experiential marketing, Gaurav has worked in multiple roles from Business Development, Client Servicing & Project Operations and is presently leading Operations at Sports Village Xp.
He loves sports and expedition, and is a big fan of Sachin Tendulkar & Roger Federer.
Operations Head, Sportz Village Foundation
After the realization set in that he will not be making it as a professional footballer or Wimbledon great, Ankit decided to work in an industry that gives sports inclined youth the platform to realize their potential and set them on their way to achieving great things. He leads operations for the Foundation team, driving ‘sport for change’ programs in government schools across India. Ankit graduated from Shri Ram College of Commerce with a Bachelor’s in Economics and earned his MBA in Marketing at MICA.
Lead – Product and Strategy, Sportz Village Foundation
Nihit leads Product and Strategy at Sportz Village along with leading a few new initiatives. He loves building successful products from scratch. Nihit is an alumnus of the prestigious IIM Calcutta and Delhi College of Engineering. His personal interests are sports and traveling. He is also an international Racketlon player and participates in World Tour tournaments.
