The Yacht Club of Hyderabad has trained about 900 students who have bagged national and international laurels. It also funds the students’ education, nutrition and healthcare expenses
How about tonight?” asked an official from Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority when Suheim Sheikh approached them for access to the Hussain Sagar lake in Hyderabad for setting up a yacht club. When the officer asked Sheikh, now 60, when he needed permission, the former techie jokingly replied, “How about tomorrow?” Without even looking up from the file, the officer shot back, “How about tonight?”. And just like that Sheikh’s dream yacht club became a reality.
That was way back in 2009. But if the term yacht club has triggered an image of an elite haunt, with men in dapper suits and women in designer gowns lazing on the deck of fancy boats, think again. Sheikh’s sailors are children whose parents earn less than Rs 20,000 a month, he says. Started with the motive of bringing ‘dignity through sports’, Sheikh has been working for the development of underprivileged children since, by teaching them sailing and supporting their education.
His students have done him proud, bringing home 17 international and 157 national medals over the years. Many of the IIT graduate’s mentees have gone on to win medals within six months or a year of joining the club.
“Sailing has always been for elitists. I wanted to bring it within the reach of poor children,” says Sheikh. Talking about how he came up with the idea of the yacht club, Sheikh, himself a sailor, says he noticed there was little representation from the city at sailing tournaments. “I have been sailing for 45 years now. When I used to take part in tournaments in the past, I would notice that hardly anyone from Hyderabad or even Telangana (then part of the undivided Andhra Pradesh) was competing,” says Sheikh, who learnt sailing at the Secunderabad Club in the city and participated in national and international tournaments, winning bronze and silver medals in laser standard sailing at the national level. “For 25 years or more, there was no child under the age of 15 representing the state,” he says. “So, it was always in the back of my mind to change this as the sport has always been in the hands of the elite.”
Since its inception, The Yacht Club of Hyderabad has trained about 900 children. Classes are free with Sheikh spending anywhere between Rs 1 and Rs 3 lakh per year per child on training, nutrition, healthcare, education, etc. While most of the financial needs of the club are met through Sheikh’s savings — he was in software before giving up that career to pursue his passion for sailing — his close friends also chip in whenever needed. Post 2018, he also got support from a few corporates. He is now planning to accept CSR funds so that more children can be taken under his wings.
A 360-Degree Turn
With 75 yachts, the Yacht Club of Hyderabad currently boasts of “the largest fleet in the country”, and has opened a second branch in the city’s Durgam Cheruvu.
During peak sailing season (from June to Sept), the students spend about four hours sailing every day and two hours work ing on their mental and physical fitness. The day starts at 6.30 am and winds up by 8.30 pm. Activities include swimming, rowing, and weight training, while a thirdparty counsellor conducts weekly sessions to work on their mental fitness. During the off-season, children attend fitness training in the morning and sail after school.
Along with free sailing lessons and educational support, the children also receive free meals, healthcare, counselling, and leadership and management training.
“Expenditure per student depends on the level at which he or she is competing. If they are competing at international tournaments, the club ends up spending about Rs 60 lakh to Rs 70 lakh on one child,” says Sheikh, adding that the club also supports the students’ education till graduation or beyond, in cases where they show interest and promising results.
Children as young as eight or nine years are selected from govt schools and orphanages, or even picked up from the streets, through simple fitness tests — running, long jump, push-ups, and sit-ups, among others, and if they show the zeal to learn and excel in sailing. “Currently, we have about 75 students. We want to grow to 300,” says Sheikh, adding that they want to conduct a talent drive across the country to pick more students. “We also want to throw the club open to students from non-marginalised backgrounds,” he adds, who will have to pay for the lessons.
Sheikh spends about six months a year actively training students and accompanying them to various national and international championships. The remaining part is dedicated to the development of the club.
According to the his students, the club has taught them not just sailing, but how to be successful in life. “Back in 2017, when personnel from the club came to our school and asked who is interested in sailing, I raised my hand assuming I would get to go to a summer camp. But it changed my entire life. I have won about 20 medals, I am studying for a degree at a top college in the city and have just returned from London, where I went as a manager with the sailing team from the club,” says Dharani Laveti, 19, one of the students, adding that right from moving her from a govt school to a private one years back, to sponsoring her education now, the club has taken care of all her needs. Dharani is raised by her single mother, who works in the housekeeping department of a private hospital.
Preethi Kongara, 20, another student, who has just returned from Bangkok where she was undergoing training to become a coach, says she wants to become like Sheikh and produce champions in sailing.
“From being afraid of water to reaching the Asian Games, my life took a 360-degree turn because of my coach. Now, I’m aiming for a podium finish at the next Asian Games,” says Preethi, who too was raised by a single mother, a housekeeping staffer at a private company.
How about tonight?” asked an official from Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority when Suheim Sheikh approached them for access to the Hussain Sagar lake in Hyderabad for setting up a yacht club. When the officer asked Sheikh, now 60, when he needed permission, the former techie jokingly replied, “How about tomorrow?” Without even looking up from the file, the officer shot back, “How about tonight?”. And just like that Sheikh’s dream yacht club became a reality.
That was way back in 2009. But if the term yacht club has triggered an image of an elite haunt, with men in dapper suits and women in designer gowns lazing on the deck of fancy boats, think again. Sheikh’s sailors are children whose parents earn less than Rs 20,000 a month, he says. Started with the motive of bringing ‘dignity through sports’, Sheikh has been working for the development of underprivileged children since, by teaching them sailing and supporting their education.
His students have done him proud, bringing home 17 international and 157 national medals over the years. Many of the IIT graduate’s mentees have gone on to win medals within six months or a year of joining the club.
“Sailing has always been for elitists. I wanted to bring it within the reach of poor children,” says Sheikh. Talking about how he came up with the idea of the yacht club, Sheikh, himself a sailor, says he noticed there was little representation from the city at sailing tournaments. “I have been sailing for 45 years now. When I used to take part in tournaments in the past, I would notice that hardly anyone from Hyderabad or even Telangana (then part of the undivided Andhra Pradesh) was competing,” says Sheikh, who learnt sailing at the Secunderabad Club in the city and participated in national and international tournaments, winning bronze and silver medals in laser standard sailing at the national level. “For 25 years or more, there was no child under the age of 15 representing the state,” he says. “So, it was always in the back of my mind to change this as the sport has always been in the hands of the elite.”
Since its inception, The Yacht Club of Hyderabad has trained about 900 children. Classes are free with Sheikh spending anywhere between Rs 1 and Rs 3 lakh per year per child on training, nutrition, healthcare, education, etc. While most of the financial needs of the club are met through Sheikh’s savings — he was in software before giving up that career to pursue his passion for sailing — his close friends also chip in whenever needed. Post 2018, he also got support from a few corporates. He is now planning to accept CSR funds so that more children can be taken under his wings.
A 360-Degree Turn
With 75 yachts, the Yacht Club of Hyderabad currently boasts of “the largest fleet in the country”, and has opened a second branch in the city’s Durgam Cheruvu.
During peak sailing season (from June to Sept), the students spend about four hours sailing every day and two hours work ing on their mental and physical fitness. The day starts at 6.30 am and winds up by 8.30 pm. Activities include swimming, rowing, and weight training, while a thirdparty counsellor conducts weekly sessions to work on their mental fitness. During the off-season, children attend fitness training in the morning and sail after school.
Along with free sailing lessons and educational support, the children also receive free meals, healthcare, counselling, and leadership and management training.
“Expenditure per student depends on the level at which he or she is competing. If they are competing at international tournaments, the club ends up spending about Rs 60 lakh to Rs 70 lakh on one child,” says Sheikh, adding that the club also supports the students’ education till graduation or beyond, in cases where they show interest and promising results.
Children as young as eight or nine years are selected from govt schools and orphanages, or even picked up from the streets, through simple fitness tests — running, long jump, push-ups, and sit-ups, among others, and if they show the zeal to learn and excel in sailing. “Currently, we have about 75 students. We want to grow to 300,” says Sheikh, adding that they want to conduct a talent drive across the country to pick more students. “We also want to throw the club open to students from non-marginalised backgrounds,” he adds, who will have to pay for the lessons.
Sheikh spends about six months a year actively training students and accompanying them to various national and international championships. The remaining part is dedicated to the development of the club.
According to the his students, the club has taught them not just sailing, but how to be successful in life. “Back in 2017, when personnel from the club came to our school and asked who is interested in sailing, I raised my hand assuming I would get to go to a summer camp. But it changed my entire life. I have won about 20 medals, I am studying for a degree at a top college in the city and have just returned from London, where I went as a manager with the sailing team from the club,” says Dharani Laveti, 19, one of the students, adding that right from moving her from a govt school to a private one years back, to sponsoring her education now, the club has taken care of all her needs. Dharani is raised by her single mother, who works in the housekeeping department of a private hospital.
Preethi Kongara, 20, another student, who has just returned from Bangkok where she was undergoing training to become a coach, says she wants to become like Sheikh and produce champions in sailing.
“From being afraid of water to reaching the Asian Games, my life took a 360-degree turn because of my coach. Now, I’m aiming for a podium finish at the next Asian Games,” says Preethi, who too was raised by a single mother, a housekeeping staffer at a private company.
