Pune is turning out to be a valuable breeding ground for young sporting talent. The credit for this goes to Pune City Sports Zone Committee (PCSZC) which is an organisation that organizes intercollegiate sports competitions among colleges in Pune.

These competitions give rise to healthy rivalries among colleges and increases the benchmark of performances year after year. A large range of sports like table tennis, volleyball, basketball,etc. are contested by this organization. Many colleges have created a reputation for themselves by taking part and doing well in such competitions. The Pune zonal committee, based on the results, shortlists the students from colleges that perform well to then send them to interzonal tournaments.

Here are some of the colleges that have done well in the 2019-2020 Pune zonal meet and have students that have been shortlisted for the inter-zonal meet.

S.P. College

S.P. College historically has done well in intercollegiate competitions in Pune. They have had good all round participation in different sports like table tennis, swimming, volleyball, athletics,etc. In the 2019-2020 Pune zonal meet, SP college had a fantastic performance against rivals Modern College in swimming and athletics. They have a great coaching setup for athletics which shows in their 35% contribution to the total athletes selected from Pune region for the inter zonal meet. Swimming(women) and Table tennis (men and women) are the other sports where SP college has had shortlisted teams for the inter zonal meet.

Modern College

When it comes to team sports like volleyball, hockey, basketball,etc. Modern college and Ness Wadia college have a healthy rivalry between them. But Modern college has maximum representatives shortlisted for these team sports at the inter zonal level. These teams thrashed their opponents like Ness Wadia college and SP College to end up champions in the Pune division. Other than team sports, individual sports like swimming and squash have also had representatives from Modern college at the interzonal level. It has played a key part in the development of young prodigies in such sports.

Ness Wadia College

Ness wadia college has been especially known for its rivalry with Modern college in team sports like Volleyball, baseball and hockey. Modern college and Ness Wadia college have gone head to head many times in recent competitions, with the former ending up victors for more number of times. Having been thrashed 7-0 in the final of hockey tournament in 2017, Ness Wadia college have come a long way in being fierce competitors and constantly among the top three teams in Pune.

College of Engineering Pune (COEP)

COEP is arguably the best engineering college in Pune. But its rivalry with MIT is not limited to academics only. Its table tennis team ended up second best to their MIT counterparts in the Pune zonal tournament. It will be interesting to see them team up in the interzonal tournaments. Despite the hockey team not winning the tournament, two of the team members have been shortlisted in the iterzonal team because of their good performances in the Pune zonal tournament. COEP also has representatives in athletics along with fellow rivals MIT in the inter zonal tournaments.

Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT)

Having a fierce rivalry with COEP as a top engineering college, MIT also provides a good environment for nurturing sports. Table tennis is a sport where they have had regular representatives at the inter zonal level, having defeated COEP in the final in the Pune Zone. MIT is known for a good athletics output of talent which goes a long way in their contribution to the sports fraternity in Pune. MIT college won the Football tournament to qualify for the inter zonal level.