image source- SportsTiger official Instagram handle
Usually speaking, when we think about- and follow- young guns in the field of sports journalism especially in an extensively content-driven and sport-obsessed country like India, we perhaps commit an error.
There is this error in perception.
Truth be told, somewhere one feels that these freewheeling, constantly-on-the-phone, frequently app-hopping, online shopping crazed opinionated young souls somewhere lack depth where it comes to holding an opinion about sports.
And that exclusivity in thoughts and holding unpolluted opinions that are insight driven is sort of a ball-game that comes naturally to the experienced names; not the young ones as such.
Perhaps it could be their erratic schedules of life that aren’t really as defined by discipline as was the case with sports journalists and content producers back in the day.
Or, maybe it’s got to do with the way conservative mindsets- that aren’t privy to ideas like new age working styles- perceive the younger generation, often narrowing what the grown ups may never understand: the young lads in the age of social media.
But while I am no one to pass judgment on who’s right and who isn’t, I care to submit with certainty that a sports content creator like Vedant Sharma pretty much stands for what’s correct and emphatically impressive about young sports content names in India.
The young and rapidly rising ones. The bold ones who will take on multiple categories across sports coverage and produce with ceaseless energy content on an almost daily basis.
Many of us, who are aware of who Vedant Sharma is, would in all likelihood associate him with the much popular SportsTiger, which redoubtably is one of the fastest growing digital sports content platforms in all of India. Those who aren’t familiar and sure, there could be many, ought to absorb an interesting statistic: as on August 6, 2024, the Jaipur-based SportsTiger has over 102,000 subscribers on YouTube while its official Instagram account has 1.7 million followers- all organic.
But here’s the most interesting part.
The person who’s been associated with the platform right from its inception stage to what can be dubbed as the stage of manic growth is none other than Vedant Sharma, a humble and jovial, focused and determined content creator who lives to work and works to add meaning to his life.
At a time where new websites are constantly coming to life and perhaps waning away faster than they were born, SportsTiger, as Vedant calls it, is a concrete effort from each of its team members. The social media talent, the publishers, the writers and the editors. And as content head and editorial head of SportsTiger, it is under Vedant Sharma’s careful monitoring that the engaging sports platform blast past a million plus user base on Instagram.
It is rather important to remember that our country’s estimated sports audience base, as on the current date, stands at a whopping 678 million (source- ormax media). To get a sense of just how big or daunting a number that is, it’s worthwhile to remember that Finland’s overall population is close to 6 million inhabitants while the population of a Ireland and Israel for that matter is 7 million and roughly 10 million, respectively.
By that logic, imagine the feat of this earnest lad, who, it ought to be noted, is a few years away from 30.
However, having said that, a few hours ago, Vedant sported a special twinkle in his expressive and honest eyes which wasn’t hard to spot, especially when seen on the SportsTiger’s social media handle.
There was a sense of palpable excitement in the Jaipur office of this close-knit unit. The vibe was that of celebration. The reason, quite admirable: as on August 5, Vedant Sharma had completed half a decade at SportsTiger.
Why this key highlight inspired this article that I do hope you’re reading and thank you for doing so, is that it is a gentle reminder to the biased minds and those that are often too quick to pass judgement on the capability of young guns in the testing waters of sports content coverage in India.
Gone are the days where the old and experienced were solely and exclusively, I submit with much and due regard, driving digital platforms ahead.
Vedant is a shining example of what it means to masterfully lead and multi task a multi-disciplinary sports content coverage platform that produces on a daily basis snippets, informative, engaging and passionate sports content.
And that’s content that isn’t only restricted to Vedant’s favourite sport for which his role model Sourav Ganguly is known; SportsTiger has published countless pieces of content on Tennis, Basketball, Football, Kabaddi, Golf, Athletics, Archery and even, Formula 1.
Features pieces that guide the fanatic fan on what makes Virat Kohli successful across formats to pieces that detail Kimi Raikkonen’s legendary achievements in Formula 1 to even Leo Messi’s greatest moments are some of the fine reminders of the sterling quality of content that SportsTiger is committed to produce and has been producing in all these years.
But what makes Vedant Sharma, who by the way is also closely associated with Rajathan Royals and a frequent orator at the revered IISM Mumbai, is that he’d be the first to say that if SportsTiger and he himself have come quite a distance, then it’s not solely because of him; but because of the tireless efforts of his teammates.
And that, my dear ladies and gentlemen, is the mark of this bold and sprightly young generation; they put the efforts of the others before their own and yet, humbly like to lead by an example.
5 plus years now at SportsTiger, Vedant. Keep growing, keep achieving; your best years lie ahead, at both SportsTiger and the sports content coverage world that lies beyond your workstation.
