The secret behind the scouting of Nishant Dev, Neeraj Chopra & more- CEO Rushdee Warley uncovers how IIS continues to produce Olympic medal contenders
Situated near the historical Hampi in Karnataka, the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) is a sprawling facility that encompasses the spirit of the iconic Vijayanagar kingdom. With disciplined athletes following their rigorous training schedules, one can see the hunger that they possess in their focused eyes.
The famous Olympics countdown on their administration building, one where many athletes like Nikhat Zareen have clicked pictures, serves as a constant reminder to them of their unified goal - to win a medal at the highest stage and eventually bring India into the top 10 countries in the world at the Olympics.
With a plethora of international coaches and some of the best facilities in India, it's not a surprise to see why it is one of the best locations for athletes to train domestically.
IIS was one of the only facilities which combated and remained open through the COVID-19 pandemic, and continued to provide and train the athletes who were on campus.
With a focus on multi-medal events, it has a specialized training center for athletics, combat sports like judo, boxing and wrestling, and their newly-launched swimming programme.
IIS also boasts of having hosted multiple teams at their facilities, right from the Haryana Steelers and U Mumba in Kabaddi, to Bengaluru FC and the Delhi Capitals. What speaks volumes about their facilities is the fact that the Australian boxing team, Iranian wrestling team and the Japanese judokas have trained here too.
All of these facilities equip anyone who is chosen to train there with the proper tools to succeed. However, how is it that IIS manages to scout these young talents? How did they find a 12-13 year-old Nishant Dev and turn him into an Olympic-bound athlete? Read along as IIS CEO Rushdee Warley uncovers these secrets and talks us through Nishant Dev's journey, in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda.
Q: How are the athletes from across the country scouted and what kind of tests do they need to pass before getting an IIS contract?
Rushdee Warley: We've got scouts all over the country and they will make recommendations to us. It would be off the back of things like performances at a competition, a district competition, a national competition, etc.
We bring them into IIS and we assist them for a period of three weeks that we put through a battery of tests. We look at them from a physical point of view, a technical tactical point of view, a musculoskeletal point of view and just understand whether they fit the environment in terms of the kind of athlete that we're looking for.
Do they have resilience? Do they take accountability? Are they looking to how it is that they can continue to improve? So, you know, after the point of introduction and coming to the facility, they then go through that process with us.
Q: Talking about Neeraj Chopra, Nishant Dev - what was that one thing that was special about them that got them here?
Rushdee Warley: With Neeraj, it wasn't about the performance, right? Because he didn't win when they scouted him. It was about that X factor that you could see, it was about technical ability, it was about the flexibility in his arms, it was about the nuances in what he could do.
So, you know, you have to look beyond the performance, you have to look beyond the result especially when it comes to younger athletes. The work ethic that he has, the discipline, the commitment to his craft is special. You know, those are all elements that allow an athlete to fulfill their potential.
With somebody like Nishant, I remember he was a young boy and he was full of life when he came in here and he's still full of life. He's worked really, really hard. When he needed to go to school, he went to school. He didn't stop doing that also just because he started doing relatively well in boxing.
He listened to what the coaches had to say. He understood why he was doing what he was doing. He had that heart, he had that determination, he had that desire to be successful and you could see that from Nishant at a very young age.
Q: Taking forward Nishant Dev's story - from 12 years old to now representing the Olympics - does it feel like a personal success to you? What was the one turning point in his life?
Rushdee Warley: You know what, it's not, honestly it's not a personal success to me. It's a team effort. I've seen Nishant grow up and he's an amazing young man I know the challenges that he's been through and to see him having achieved what he's achieved has been super and it's inspirational for everybody over here.
There was no one turning point in his life. He was a young athlete, we made sure that he was enjoying himself. We made sure that he was technically sound, that he was in a good environment, that he understood that he had the support of the entire organization behind him without putting any pressure on him in order to succeed.
It was just about him doing the right thing at the right time, training in a manner that was effective, training in a manner that was proper, that was age appropriate And as a natural consequence of that process you started to see Nishant mature and develop into the athlete that he is today.