Some of the best memories of school are created on the playground. What do you think happens when there is no playground? Memories, yes. Good ones, fewer. A well-rounded education and childhood for that matter should have some physical activity.

Need For Sports (NFS) envisions to provide exposure for all students towards Physical Education (PE).

Here are some of the facts from our survey:

1. Out of 27 schools participated, only 4 schools had a playground. In the 27 schools, 50% were Government schools and the other 50% were Private schools, all from low-income background. 

2. Out of this none of the Private schools have a P.E. instructor. Since they do not have a ground, physical education has not been included in the curriculum.

3. Among the Govt. Schools, Primary Schools do not have a P.E. instructor. Some Government schools have P.E. instructors but mostly only for High School.

Need For Sports is currently working with Teach For India Fellows, people who are passionately working to provide an excellent education to children, catering to the multiple needs and desires of more than 2000 kids from over 33 schools across Hyderabad. All of these children come from impoverished homes and schools, where often there isn’t room enough to even sit comfortably, let alone have a space to play. Most of the schools in Hyderabad are actually residential buildings that have been converted into schools. So they do not have a provision for a ground and the required space to nourish and help the child grow. Our mission is to provide them with a well-rounded physical education that focus on their physical development, nutrition and hygiene. Our platform ends with a headline grabbing Show Day where ALL of the children can Show what sports can do.

We focused on four disciplines: Football, Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, and Athletics. We have developed easy-to-follow curriculum plans in consultation with experts from Sports Authority Of India (S.A.I) and Hyderabad Central University (H.C.U). These were given to the Fellows. We also provided sports material to use and in some cases even coaches to ensure all the children learned and executed the plans without injury. 

Our Two-Phase Timeline involved first improving basic stamina, endurance, and sports sense. Once the children were more accustomed to exertion, we implemented specialised sports training in the above mentioned 4 disciplines. 

We also have two parallel programmes: one teaching basic first aid and dealing with common sports injuries and another to inculcate student leadership, two things that will ensure sustainability of the project and its impact. We also collected information of their physical fitness to suggest nutrition.

We have supplied schools with equipments, curriculum and expert guidance. Kids, TFI Fellows and teachers have worked very hard against all odds. Good number of talents have been spotted and many were created. Life changing impact was made in most of these kids lives. Now we want to bring it to its conclusion with a sports competition. This is to encourage kids, teachers and school managements to take up sports actively. This is to appreciate the efforts of all the stakeholders. This is to attract more participants into sports. For almost all these kids it’s NFS or it’s nothing. So help us conduct this final event for all of them. We are talking of impacting thousands of souls here.