Two alumni recognised with prestigious India High Achievers Honours

AwardsEnterpriseSports
Aditi stands in front of a black backdrop at the awards evening. The backdrop has the achievers logos on. There are also two banners detailing awards sponsors. Aditi is wearing a colourful patterned suit and holds a trophy in her right hand as she smiles for the camera, which is pictured in the right of the image.

Aditi Chauhan at the awards ceremony in London

The National Indian Students and Alumni Union UK (NISAU) awarded the India UK Achievers Honours at an awards ceremony in London on 25 January.

The awards were set up by NISAU to mark 75 years of India’s independence. 75 awards were given to top young Indian alumni who studied in the UK, with two of those going to graduates of Loughborough’s Sport Management master’s programme.

Aditi Chauhan was awarded a special Outstanding Achiever award in sports. Aditi is the Goalkeeper of the Indian National Football Team as well as the Founder of She Kicks Football Academy and Aditi Chauhan Foundation.

She Kicks Football Academy aims to encourage girls’ participation in football and to create a positive environment for them. With gender equality at the centre of the mission of the organisation, She Kicks supports young footballers by providing financial assistance, educating parents, providing health and nutrition guidance, and more.

She Kicks is an initiative of the Aditi Chauhan Foundation, set up to support talented female football players.

Alongside her outreach initiatives supporting young people, Aditi remains the first-team women’s goalkeeper for her national team and is also an analyst and commentator.

She graduated in 2015 and stayed in the UK to play for West Ham Women’s football team while working as a global ambassador at the Loughborough University London campus at its inception. When she joined West Ham, Aditi was the first player from India to appear in the FA Women’s Premier League.

On being recognised for her success, Aditi added:

“It’s a huge honour to receive it and I am immensely grateful to Loughborough University for just great alumni support.”

Also recognised for his brilliant achievements within sports was alumnus Suheil Tandon, who graduated in 2011. He is the Director-Founder of Pro Sport Development, an award-winning social enterprise based in New Delhi, India dedicated to using sport to aid in the holistic development of children and youth.

Suheil believes in the power of sport in catalysing social transformation and has led the conceptualisation and initiation of several sport and development projects across India on behalf of Pro Sport Development.

Through implementation of sports-based programmes, training facilitators and coaches, and by collaborating with organisations, Pro Sport Development fosters the growth of young people by ensuring they have the opportunity to participate in sport to encourage the development of confident young learners. There is a particular focus on marginalised sections of society who may find it more difficult to gain access to sport.

He said:

"I am honoured and humbled to be conferred this recognition towards my work in India through Pro Sport Development.

“This recognition will serve as a great motivation to myself and our entire team at Pro Sport Development to take our work to greater heights in the future.

“I would like to dedicate this award to all the wonderful people that I have worked with and served in the last decade, without whom my work and this recognition would be meaningless - thank you!"

A significant and memorable way to mark 75 years of Indian independence, the awards celebrate excellence and represent those who are trailblazing, innovating and shaping the future of India.

Many congratulations to Aditi and Suheil on their brilliant achievements and for their recognition in the awards.