HUL announces a scholarship benefitting 50 young women cricketers across Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana

Hyderabad, February 15, 2023: Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), India’s largest fast-moving consumer goods company, and makers of iconic brands such as Surf excel, Boost, Lux, Brooke Bond Red Label, Kwality Walls and more, today announced a partnership with Coaching Beyond to elevate Indian women’s cricket at the grassroot level in Hyderabad and Chennai. Since its inception, HUL has always believed in 'Doing Well by Doing Good' and contributed towards enhancing livelihoods of people and communities. In keeping with the company’s corporate social responsibility mission, this partnership with Coaching Beyond recognises and continues HUL’s endeavours to advocate for health, gender equality and skill development by extending support to young talent in cricket.
 
In association with the country's leading cricket coaching centre, Coaching Beyond, the Junior Athlete Development Program (JADP) will comprise 25 women cricketers who would be selected to train in Hyderabad and Chennai respectively for a total of 50 scholarships per year. The JADP is a holistic cricket-coaching program which will focus on developing all aspects of the game - technical, tactical, physical and mental skills.
 
Spread across 4 phases of selection and onboarding,
1.    The program will begin with trials across 20 districts across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
2.    The selected young women cricketers will be hosted to play a tournament in Chennai and Hyderabad respectively.
3.    After the tournament, 50 young women cricketers will be shortlisted for the HUL scholarship program.
4.    In the last phase, training will begin as part of the HUL scholarship, spanning 3 Years.
 
The announcement was made in the presence of Srinandan Sundaram, Executive Director, Foods & Refreshment, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Ravi Shastri, R Sridhar and B Arun, Co-founders, Coaching Beyond.
 
Srinandan Sundaram, Executive Director, Foods & Refreshment, Hindustan Unilever Limited said, “At Hindustan Unilever we have always been committed to building a better future, through our business. To create a socially inclusive world, nutrition, and health are key focus areas and hence it was essential for us to look at sports, a leading driver of movement for children through a renewed and equitable lens. For a while now, young girls in India have not had a uniform playing field to pursue their passion in sports, often due to lack of access to coaching academies, infrastructure, mentors etc. We aim to bridge this gap, and we want to encourage athletes to play the sport that they love without barriers. We are grateful for our partner, Coaching Beyond - for their support in this journey. We look forward to a sustained and successful athlete program and wish all the upcoming talent the best of luck.”
 
Ravi Shastri, Co-founder said, “On behalf of all of us at Coaching Beyond, we are excited to embark on this partnership with Hindustan Unilever. Women’s cricket in India is undergoing a tremendous shift and it is exciting to witness the developments. The way forward is truly to encourage and recruit young talent to take the sport to newer heights. I have always believed that playing a sport as a child not only builds character and confidence but also gives a sense of accomplishment, freedom, and enjoyment. At Coaching Beyond, we strongly believe that empowerment is the key to unlocking a player’s potential and thereby maximising their performance.”
 
The prestigious Junior Athlete Development Scholarship Program will consist of the following:
•    Bio-Mechanical Analysis and a Curated Skill Development Program
•    Musculoskeletal Screening and a Rehabilitation Program
•    Fitness Parameters Assessment and an Individualised Strength and Conditioning Program
•    One-One Sessions
•    Group Sessions
•    Practice Matches
•    Mental Conditioning Sessions
•    Game Awareness Sessions 
•    Nutrition Pathway
•    The cricketers will also be provided with match clothing, practice clothing and general cricket equipment.