A decade ago, Indian female gymnasts struggled to procure international standard quality costumes from abroad, Ritika Kulshreshtha, a former national gymnast explains.
“The costume would cost around $125. It wasn’t only about the money but also about proper fitting and nearly all the players struggled to get a good quality playing kit [that would fit].”
Ritika was lucky to have contacts overseas and managed to get a quality kit for herself.
However, the problem of “not having good quality playing kits in India” had a lasting impact on her and she decided to set up her own unit to support the female gymnastics fraternity in India.
She quit competitive gymnastics in 2017 and did graduation in fashion designing. Her dream to set up her own manufacturing unit, especially for female gymnasts, materialised in November 2021.
“Cutting and stitching of the playing costume was initially done by me,” she reveals. “Since my business has grown, I’ve employed two women to do the basic work.”
She had designed playing kit for the national women’s team that competed at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held in 2023 in China.
“When my playing kit was approved for both the Commonwealth and Asian Games, I was so excited,” the 25 years old says and is proud of giving back something to gymnastics.
According to Ritika, there are six different disciplines in gymnastics for women, including artistic and rhythmic. There is a different playing kit for each discipline.
“The judges can deduct marks for not wearing proper international standard competition costume,” says the 25-year-old successful entrepreneur.
Ritika imports fabric from abroad. The price range of her high-end playing costume for gymnasts is between Rs 7,000 to Rs 14,000. The normal range costs less.
“I have something for upcoming state level gymnasts who are not working and can’t afford to shell out more money for playing kit,” Ritika added.
Ritika’s company is at an embryonic stage, but there is a steady growth with each passing day.
Rikita has international clients too apart from elite Indian gymnasts.
“Recently, I sent a kit to gymnasts in Malaysia and Australia,” she added. “I also got an order from Qatar.”
Ritika is confident of expanding her company in future.
“When I am able to make good profit, I would like to support budding gymnasts at the grassroots level,” she added.
