An evening with Mr Pravin Parbati Sawant

Introduction

On September 6, 2024, we had an extraordinary session by Mr Pravin Parbati Sawant, the visionary coach behind India’s golden run in archery at the 2024 Asian Games. Mr Sawant narrated his inspiring story from working as a ward boy to founding Drushti Archery Academy. He narrated how he has transformed a sugarcane farm into a breeding ground for world champions and Arjuna Award winners.

Mr Sawant’s dedication to archery is such that he has worked day and night to achieve his dreams. He has also made numerous sacrifices, including mortgaging his family’s jewellery to fund his academy.

One incident, in particular, testifies to Mr Sawant’s commitment. Mr Sawant became a father for a second time just before the 2023 Asian Games. The child was expected on September 28 and the team was supposed to leave on the 27th. Mr Sawant was in a disturbed frame of mind because he wanted to be with his wife at this time. The doctor informed Mr Sawant after the last sonography that there was something wrong with the baby. So, they had to do an impromptu delivery. Mr Sawant took leave and came back but left for Hangzhou hours after the birth of the baby.

Mr Sawant took his newborn baby to the shooting range soon after returning home. Some of Mr Sawant’s obsession with the sport has even rubbed off on his wife, who had no sporting background. She was working in the academy on the day when she gave birth to their second child. Within 10 days of child birth, she was back helping the students.

About Mr Pravin Sawant

Mr Pravin Parbati Sawant is a distinguished figure in the Indian archery scene, known for his significant contributions as both an athlete and a coach. He is currently serving as a Police Constable with the Satara Police. Mr Sawant has successfully combined his professional duties with his passion for archery. Mr Sawant is turning his unfulfilled dreams of competing into a reality for his students, crafting champions and inspiring a new generation of archers in India.

On how he entered archery

Mr Sawant began the session expressing his gratitude to his parents, family members, well-wishers and coaches like Pramod Chandurkar, Chandrakant , Ranjit Chamle and Sujeet Shedge ---Mr Sawant’s journey into archery began in 2006 in his late teens after chancing on the sport on TV during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Despite facing severe financial constraints, he pursued his passion with determination.

At the age of 17, Sawant started work as a ward boy, doing night shifts at Suhas Pol Orthopaedic hospital in Satara. The pay wasn’t great, about Rs 1,500 a month. He would deal with medical waste, clean up the rooms. apply dressing and give medicines. Sometimes, when the doctors were busy, he would set up IV drips. He even worked in the operating theatre.

But it was great learning. Mr Sawant learnt the importance of discipline, excellence and commitment while working in the hospital. He knew that in medicine, errors were not acceptable. He also honed his skills in situational awareness.

With the money he earned, Mr Sawant joined an archery academy near Satara. After 12-hour night shifts that ended at 7 am, he would make a 45 km trip by bus to the academy and train on an Indian bamboo bow. With this kind of a lifestyle, he did not get much sleep, even as he pursued his passion.

Mr Sawant’s persistence paid off when he won a national medal in 2011 within one year. This helped him secure a job as a police constable under the sports quota. As he was physically fit, he cleared the selection process without any problem.

From player to coach

Repeating his success on a bigger platform proved harder due to financial constraints. Mr Sawant would think about the subtler nuances of the sport. He also had a helping attitude and would patiently answer the questions of other students. These traits were noticed by Mr Sawant’s seniors. They encouraged him to give coaching a shot.

Mr Sawant’s coaching was instrumental in India’s historic performance in compound archery at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. He was the Head coach of the Indian Archery Team, leading them to win seven medals in compound archery, including five golds.

Mr Sawant is widely recognized for his role in nurturing national and state-level players from Maharashtra, significantly contributing to the growth of archery in India. Aditi Swami and Ojas Pravin Deotale, have become world champions under Mr Sawant’s guidance. Now players from other states and even from outside the country are flocking to him.

Coaching Philosophy

Mr Sawant is mostly a self-taught coach. Only recently, he did his coaching diploma from NIS (National Institute of Sports). A practical coach, Mr Sawant believes that if he can teach the students love for the sport, the rest will follow.

Mr Sawant is undoubtedly a great archer. But more than technical excellence, his coaching philosophy is rooted in building strong personal bonds with his students. Indeed, Mr Sawant believes his archers do well because of his bonding with them. He wants them to look at him as friend and someone who they can trust. That is why he first makes them feels secure in his company. Then only comes archery and various techniques. More than any management guru, Mr Sawant understands the importance of emotional intelligence.

Mr Sawant believes in instilling in students a love for the sport, which he sees as the foundation for technical excellence. His commitment is evident in the close relationship he maintains with his students. He tries to understand their challenges and lives with them under the same humble conditions at his academy.

Mr Sawant shares all his knowledge freely with his students. He does not keep anything to himself.

Mr Sawant believes that everyone has talent. However, the seriousness towards goals varies from person to person. It is Mr Sawant’s job to push the students to excel. He does not show any special consideration towards his high achievers. He persuades students who are lacking in commitment to try something else.

Mr Sawant also believes that every athlete is different. So, he deals with each athlete differently. Champion archer, Ojas Deotale is a great example.

Ojas’ improvement from an archer who did not have a national medal to one who has swept the podium at the Asian Games is near miraculous. For a long time, Ojas suffered from self-doubt and lacked confidence. He would feel intimidated and falter during big tournaments.

Last year was the first time Ojas did not celebrate Diwali at home. Mr Sawant wanted Ojas to stay and train in Satara. Mr Sawant celebrated Diwali with Ojas at the academy itself. Following the tradition, he even applied utane (a mix of Ayurvedic powders used on the first day of Diwali) on Ojas, the way a father would do to a son. Mr Sawant’s encouragement and moral support have undoubtedly played a big art in transforming Ojas.

The friendly touch, however, comes attached with Mr Sawant’s reputation for being strict. This comes from his police background. He is a demanding task master. He works with the students in the morning, then goes to work and returns to train them in the evening. At night his family also stays under the same tin roof.

Note: Indian compound archers made a clean sweep of all five gold medals in their category at Asian Games 2023. with Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Ojas Pravin Deotale emerging as the women’s and men’s individual champions, respectively. Abhishek Verma won the silver in the men’s individual category while the 17-year-old Aditi Swami clinched a bronze in women’s. Ojas won three gold medals in the individual, mixed team, and men’s team events, while Aditi won gold in the women’s team event and bronze in the individual category.

About Drushti Academy

In 2017, Mr Sawant founded the Drushti Archery Academy in Satara, Maharashtra, on a one-acre sugarcane farm. Despite the modest facilities, the academy has produced world-class archers, including two world champions and two Arjuna Awardees.

Drushti Academy is nestled in the sugarcane fields of Satara, about 250 kilometres south of Mumbai. Students wake up at 6 am, recite prayers in front of Lord Ganesha and, an hour later, converge on the ground to begin their practice. For Mr Sawant, Drushti Academy is a place where shishyas (students) eat, pray and love archery. The Guru Shishya Parampara is the secret sauce of the academy.

Initially, Mr Sawant started coaching at Satara’s Shahu stadium. Owing to lack of space he moved around the city – from behind the Congress Committee Bhawan building to a space behind Saidabput hostel. The search for a permanent location finally ended after getting timely help from someone he knew since his hospital ward boy days.

When Mr Sawant was working at the hospital, he got to know Mahendra Kadam, a pharmacist. Mr Kadam admired Mr Sawant for his never say die spirit. Later, when Mr Sawant got into coaching, Mr Kadam sent his daughter to train with him. When Mr Kadam saw that Mr Sawant was looking for a place to train, he asked if he would like to use his acre of farmland just outside Satara. It was used to grow sugarcane and in a prime location. But Mr Kadam generously offered to let Sawant start his academy there. In fact, he cleared the field and gave the land just two months before the sugarcane harvest.

Drushti Archery Academy has surprisingly modest facilities when we consider the results it has delivered. The facility has a shooting range with a target, a tin-covered shed for equipment, and another tin roof structure in which outstation students stay.

Mr Sawant’s devotion to his academy can be gauged from the fact that he named his firstborn daughter Drushti after his academy. (The academy was not named after his daughter. The name of the academy came from the close connection between archery and Drishti or sight.)

Drushti’s modest hostel currently accommodates around 20 students. But given its accomplishments in 2023—four Asian Games gold medals and three world championship gold medals between Ojas Pravin Deotale, 21, and Aditi Swami, 17, both of whom recently received the Arjuna Award—the interest in the Academy is only growing. These two champions, Ojas and Aditi have also poured in their financial support for the academy.

Q&A