WGAI in association with Ministry of Tourism launches the historic “Incredible India Golf Caddy Training Program”
· First ever move by a sports governing body towards creating employment for the underprivileged section of the society
· DLF Golf & country club to train the India’s first ever batch of Women Golf Assistants
New Delhi, July 16, 2012: The Women’s Golf
Association of India (WGAI) and Ministry of Tourism today
announcedIndia’s first ever-joint program towards creating employment
opportunities for the underprivileged section of the society. The
governing body for women’s professional golf in India today announced
the launch of the “Incredible India golf caddy Training program” in
association with the Ministry of Tourism. The initiative, a part of the
Ministry’s “Hunar se Rozgaar” campaign, aims towards skill development
for aspiring Golf Assistants.
This program will identify prospective candidates to be trained as
golf assistants and the shortlisted candidates will undergo an extensive
and detailed training program of six weeks on various aspects of golf.
The training module would focus more towards practical learning about
the game of golf along with some necessary theoretical classes, to
enable quicker and stronger understanding about the sport to the
aspiring golf assistants.The primary objective of the program is to
create a pool of certified Golf Assistants who can assists national and
international golfers during golf tours in India.
“The Ministry of Tourism has a mandate of skill development of
youth involved in various sectors of tourism industry with an objective
to create employable skills. This is in conformity with the resolution
passed by the Heads of Nations of 20 developed countries, recognizing
tourism as a vehicle for job creation poverty reduction and economic
growth,” said Shri Sanjay Kothari, Special Secretary (Tourism).
He further added, “The Ministry of Tourism is happy to associate
with the Caddy training programme for caddies which are the first ever
such training programme to be launched in the country by Women’s Golf
Association of India. We hope such programmes will be replicated in
other parts of the country as well.”
The initiative would work towards enabling the lesser-privileged
section of the society, with minimum education and limited skills to
become employable as Golf Assistants, thus creating employment
opportunities to large number of people across the country, which would
open doors to several other roles in the future. The candidates need to
have a minimum education till class eight and should be between the age
of 18 and 28. The DLF golf club has volunteered to train the women Golf
Assistants – a first ever initiative as this would be the first lot of
trained women Golf assistants that the country would have.
“We at WGAI are committed towards the development of women’s golf
in India and our efforts have been fruitful as women’s golf In India has
come of age in the last few years and some extremely talented golfers
have been produced,” said Mrs. Kavita Singh, President, Women’s Golf Association of India.
She further added “WGAI has always believed in women empowerment
and with this initiative which is the first training of its kind in
India we look to benefit the women who want to make a career in golf but
don’t have the resources. This is a beginning of a process and I am
confident that we will be able to create a huge pool of employable
caddies, which will further open other avenues for them.”
The Qutub Golf Club would be training the men who are aspiring to
become Golf Assistants. Currently people from Delhi and NCR region are
being recruited and gradually the WGAI aims to reach out to the rest of
the country with support from other golf courses and associations.
“WGAI has been working for the development of women’s golf in
India. In the recent past international interest has increased in Indian
Golf and this initiative is aimed towards creating equal opportunities
to benefit from this development for everyone from the underprivileged
section of the society, along with the women. Everyone who has an eye
for the game and are interested in making careers in Golf are welcome to
be a part the ‘Incredible India Golf Caddy Training Program’.
Our objective is to make these unskilled and less educated people
employable and have a respectful career. This initiative will not only
provide employment for these people but will also work as a platform to a
number of new opportunities. The golf assistants over a period of time
can qualify to train youngsters and can also pursue career as
professional golfers”, said Mrs. ChampikaSayal, Secretary General, Women’s Golf Association of India.
“A Golf Player’s perception level is likely to develop over a period of
time based on practical training faster since theory in the game
develops as players mature. In our country youngsters who grow in rural
or metro areas through community games such as “Pitthoo”, “Guli Danda”
or “Kanchas” are able to develop their perception levels from a very
young age. Perception development at a young age along grooming in Rules
of Golf thereafter will bring out the best in youngsters.” she further
added.
Mr Aakash Ohri, Head – Golf & Infra, DLF Ltd
said, “The DLF Golf & Country Club is proud to be associated with
this first-of-it’s-kind initiative in the country. As you know, training
programs for caddies and their well being has always been on top of our
agenda over the years. Taking our initiatives further, we will be the
first club in the country to employ women’s caddies. I would like to
congratulate the Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India and the Women’s Golf
Association of India for their efforts and pledge any support that we
can give towards success of the Incredible India Golf Caddy Training
Program.”
In the recent few years Women’s golf has created a niche for itself
and acceptance of the sport is growing by the day. There has been a
tremendous growth in the standard of play, with players like Sharmila
Nicollet and Smriti Mehra performing well at the global stage and also
young talents like Nalini Singh and Neha Tripathi coming up strongly.
With growing support from corporates to the sport there has been a
steady increase in the prize money for the domestic tour as well.
Globally there is steep rise in sports tourism and golf has had an
integral role to play in this with major golf events taking place in
India attracting global audiences, Ministry of Tourism has identified
golf as a niche tourism product and has been proactively promoting
tourism through Golf. A large number of golf courses that match
international standards have come up and this has propelled the
participation of the youth, which has led to increased level of interest
in the game and domestic tourism has been given a boost.
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