An Information Initiative by EduSports

Why are middle schoolers

dropping out of sports?

Issue 2

CRICKETSPORTof the SEASON:

Fact 2:The only law of Cricket that hasn’t been changed or modified is the length of the pitch (22 yards).

Fact 3:Everyone knows that Sachin Tendulkar made his debut for India against Pakistan in 1989, but did you know that he actually got his first taste of international cricket two years prior, not playing for India but for a Pakistan team - against India?

Fact 1:India is the only country to win the 60-Over, 50-Over and 20-Over World Cup.

Saumil MajmudarCo-Founder & MD, EduSports

“TimeOut can be seen as a conversation between school leaders and EduSports about integrating sports into education, the challenges, the positives and the possibilities. I invite all school leaders to join in this conversation and makeit more meaningful.”

Editorial

The generation of children growing up now is grappling with increas-ing complexities and choices. Today’s pre-teen and teen (your typical middle and high-schooler) has a lot to shoulder. From academic pressures to peer / social demands; distractions that span the online and offline worlds. Their schedule is often grueling and always demanding a lot from them in terms of emotional and social skills.

Most school leaders and educators want to empower these children with tools for success and sustain a learning environment that prepares them for life in the real world.

Against this backdrop, what role can sports education play? In this edition of TimeOut, we explore this question and approach the issue from different angles to give you multiple perspectives on the challenge we face with our middle and high schoolers.

To begin with, we delve into the reasons for high drop out rates from sports in this age group. In understanding the contributing factors, we are better able to structure a solution. One top learning is that many of our teens and pre-teens are telling us that sports is no longer “fun”. Why is this so? The problem then finds its way to our own doorstep - essentially, we have to strive to make sports interesting for these children. We need to let our children have a multi-modal experience of sports rather than a uni-modal experience.

As adults, it becomes incumbent on us to repackage sports and make it more appealing for the average 12 year old, rather than simply giving them what we think is right. For instance, if we change the mode, the frequency and the way in which sports is presented, will more children stay connected to sports right through their teenage years?

Before you turn the page and plunge into this issue, I would like to leave you with this thought. We need to look at different ways of experiencing sports, from a child’s perspective. What if you could intellectually engage with sports via a sports quiz or viscerally via a sports movie?- thereby giving children exposure to different forms of engagement with sports? Taking inspiration from the cricket fever that engulfs us, are there different ways of keeping teenagers interested and engaged with sports?

In the ensuing pages, you will get to know our long-time advisor and Sports psychologist Dr. George Selleck’s take on this issue based on his experience in the United States and his recommendations on how schools can tackle this. You can Walk the Talk with one of Bangalore’s leading educators Ms. Deepa Sridhar, Principal, Sri Kumaran Children’s Home, who shares with us the importance of sports education in building life skills in children; and finally take a moment to introspect if you as a school leader are being a good sport.

This edition of TimeOut is dedicated to getting more of our middle and high schoolers to experience the magic of sport, thereby building key life skills that can prepare them for the challenges of growing up and for success in adult life.

Growing up is not easy.It never was. But it only seems to be getting tougher.

Read on, join this important mission andplease share your thoughts on how we could do this better

What do you think schoolscould do to integrate life skills in their curriculum? Please share your thoughts.

Today children are faced with more challenges and definitely need essential life skills to cope with them. It is for this reason that life skill education is more relevant today than ever before. It is important for schools to impart life skills for their students. What is more important is that

schools should understand that life skills is not a standalone teaching subject and has to be integrated in the teaching process.

To run an effective life skills programme - the ethos and culture of the school should believe in lifeskill development and it should be their top priority; schools should train teachers to effectively support students in the development of life skills and must have the relevant competencies;

Excerpts from our interview with Ms. Deepa Sridhar, Principal of Sri Kumaran Children’s Home, Bangalore. Ms. Deepa shares her thoughts on the importance of sports education for children and how it helps develop life skills. She also throws light on the various initiatives that the school has been taking towards life skill development and holistic education.

“Sports education and participation helps childrendevelop manyimportant life skills.”

Q. Which is your favourite physical activity / sport?

Swimming & Tennis

Q. If not an educator, what else would you be?

Perhaps a HumanResources professional ora Psychologist

Q. Who is your role model? My grandmother and my mother. The two strong women in my life who have struggled to come up in life purely by their grit and determination.

Q. Who is the best role model that children try to emulate? Parent / teacher / celebrity / family members?

I think today, kids are lot more conscious about whom they should emulate. They don’t have a fixed idea. Probably their parents or successful people whom they interact with.

Q. If there was one change you could effect in the Indian schooling system, what would it be?

My sincere wish is that the CBSE Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) System should continue.

About

Q1

Q6

As a school leader how do you emphasize on holistic education in your school?

Holistic Education is part of our vision and mission. We emphasize on holistic education to nurture the overall development of students focusing on their intellectual, emotional, social, physical, creative, aesthetic and spiritual potentials.

At Kumarans, we consciously work towards creating a balance between academics and co-curricular activities which helps towards physical and social well-being of our students. As a part of our holistic education development, we create a good balance between academics and co-curricular activities. We have structured and unstructured activities for all classes from 1st to 12th grade. We provide both sports activities which helps develop robustness, fair play and team spirit, and art activities that help children develop their aesthetic and creative abilities.

We believe that holistic education is necessary towards making children good

citizens of the country and help them develop a sense of self-reliance and a spirit of service to others. And we are confident that when they graduate from our school they have a good balance between academics and co-curricular activities, enabling them to be holistic individuals.

Research shows that a large majority of kids stop participating in sports at the age of 12. How important do you think sports education is for children, especially middle and high-schoolers?

Middle-schoolers dropping out of sports has become a common phenomenon today. From our observation there are multiple reasons for this - parental pressure on academics, video games and other distractions, lack of space to play in apartments, children being pushed too soon into competitive sports by their parents etc.

When children lose interest in sports, unfortunately they become less alert, less active and less responsive which takes a toll on their physical health as well. As a school we understand that it is important for children to be engaged in sports. Sports or any physical activity is extremely important for middle and high schoolers because it releases the good hormones and this definitely helps in improving the physical and emotional well-being of the child.

Q2

the entire ecosystem including parents, teachers, staff should be oriented on the need for life skills and the school’s approach towards life skills development.

We also regularly conduct sessions for children and parents, by doctors, nutritionists and other experts, on the importance of fitness and playing sports, the issue of obesity, the need to eat right and have a healthy lifestyle.

Any thoughts on your partnership with EduSports and lessons or feedback based on your experience?

EduSports is a wonderful and a much-needed initiative today. Their methodology is excellent,

Q7

and their curriculum is very well researched and developed. What we most like about EduSports programme is their focus on building the basic skills and fundamental physical fitness for children than just making them sports persons. Their focus on physical agility, endurance, skills with hands and legs and overall physical development is commendable.

Q3

Q4

Research also indicates that lack of play and sedentary lifestyles are leading to higher obesity levels, unhealthy choices & social behaviours in pre-teens and teens. In your view, what are typically the challenges faced by middle and high-schoolers with respect to sports participation? And how is your school tackling those challenges?

Today’s kids face a different kind of environment than the previous generations. They face peer pressure, parental pressure and many do not go out to play, which was the routine earlier.

In schools there are children whose kinesthetic skills are well developed and who enjoy sports vis-à-vis others who are not too inclined to playing and just while away their time in their PT classes. This is where the school needs to emphasise that sports is not just a competitive pursuit, but it is important to play sports regularly to develop one’s physical fitness and maintain good health. Planned activities in schools help children to be physically in shape, boosting their self-esteem and self-confidence.

At Kumarans we offer several after-school sports activities and encourage every middle-schooler and high-schooler to participate. We duly encourage children to play for the sake of playing, for the sake of enjoying the sport, rather than pursue it only for competitive purposes.

Do you think sports education /participation can help develop life skills? Please share your thoughts.

Sports education and participation helps children develop many important life skills.

As a school principal and as a mother of two national swimmers, I have observed that children tend to be a lot more productive and manage their time well when they have a full schedule. When a child knows that she has to balance studies and sports and the window of time available is limited, she tends to complete tasks more quickly. It is a myth that children do better in academics if they have more time to study. Well yes to a certain extent, but greater chances of procrastination and being lackadaisical is seen in students who do not exercise.

Children who regularly play, learn to work as a team, to cooperate, to work together for a common goal. They also learn to take failure in the right spirit. Losing a game or a tournament helps teach children that these are temporary losses and that can be overcome next time. These learnings help when they face setbacks later in life.

Children active in sports are very disciplined. They follow a very rigid schedule - they need to be on the ground on time for their practice, they need to finish their home-work on time, while also managing their other pursuits. They learn to set goals and realise that working hard helps them achieve their goals.

Is there a specific programme inyour school towards developing life skills for your students? Please elaborate on the programme – its benefits and challenges.

We provide life skills development through sports and non-sporting activities for all children from classes 1-12.

All our students are encouraged to participate in some sport of their interest. All five days a week our students are involved in some form of physical activity such as, yoga, swimming, gymnastics, free games and other skill building activities like EduSports. We also provide after school sports programs Football, Karate, Athletics and Swimming for amateurs.

Q5

Life skills that sports help build

Team Work

Discipline TimeManagement

Ability to DealWith Failure

Most children play a sport because it is fun. At a younger age, children take to sports like a fish takes to water. But as they grow, there comes a phase when physical activity and team-sport participation start to decline.

Studies report that while a large number of children, between ages 4 and 14, participate in one sport or the other, about 70% of them drop out of sports around the age of 12-13. In the process, they lose out on opportunities to learn a new sport and to develop social skills. (1)

Unfortunately, this trend has been around for a long time now. In 1992, a study conducted by the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at Michigan State University, USA, found that one of the reasons that 90% of the kids stated for dropping

“One of the reasons that 90% of the kids stated for dropping out of sports was that it stopped being fun and it was all about winning”

out of sports was that it stopped being fun and it was all about winning.

Why does a child who was enjoying a sport suddenly resent it and refuse to go back to it? Why do children stop having fun while they are playing?

The quality of engagement that children have with a sport influences their sense of fun. What is considered fun, however, can change as children develop over time. Several researchers have linked the concept of fun to developing a sense of competency, becoming socially involved, building friendships and receiving psychosocial support. (3)

Drawing in from several research studies from across the globe, we present here some of the key factors that determine why children, especially middle-schoolers, quit sports.

Why Do Middle School KidsDropout from Sports? And How Can We Make Sports Fun for Them

Insights

Why is it important for middle-schoolersto continue playing sports?

Indira Nooyi, the current CEO of PepsiCo is a stellar example of this. In her school days, she actively participated in sports especially cricket. Today, she is known for her able leadership skills and flawless business acumen. Ms. Nooyi is still active in sports and regularly plays baseball. GE's head, Jeff Immelt, was an active football player while at college, and even led the team. Meg Whitman, the CEO of Hewlett Packard, captained the swim team and played lacrosse, tennis, and basketball.

So how do we ensure that children are given enough opportunities to play and pursue sports as a regular activity?

Both schools and parents play a critical role in helping a child stay interested in sports through middle and high school. Numerous studies show that children do not need to be competent in

Playing has tremendous benefits: ranging from physical fitness to all-round development. Research reveals that the inclusion of physical activity makes a person stronger, and reduces the chances of lifestyle diseases, and also cuts back on childhood obesity.

Play also provides healthy social engagement in their impressionable years. Studies have found that children who engage in sports are less likely to be depressed, smoke or use illegal drugs.(1)

Playing enhances motivation, and encourages children to develop self-esteem, confidence, be able team players, acquire good leadership skills and even remain committed to their activities of choice.

It has been seen that many corporate head honchos and entrepreneurs have excelled at some sport or the other. A survey of over 100 CEOs in the UK revealed that as many as 70% benefited positively in their careers from compulsory games at school.(4)

Sports is not FunAnymore !

For middle and high-school children, expectations concerning academic performance from parents and teachers increase. The extent of support and encouragement from parents and the school for a student to pursue sports on a regular basis declines drastically over time. Sports and other co-curricular activities are typicallythe first to be dropped in order to increase focus on academics.

Academic Expectations

Children spend hours in front of the television or on the computer and other electronic devices. Their concept of playing games is no longer about the ones that involve physical activity. This has become a trend, one that leads to children having more sedentary lifestyles, becomingmore introverted and finding it hard to make friends as well.

Virtual Reality

There is nothing quite like sports to inculcate a focus on well-being in children and to help them imbibe invaluable life skills and tools. Sports can provide profound experiences and a much-needed sense of exploration and adventure for children. And as school leaders and caretakers of the next generation, it is our responsibility to encourage our pre-teens and teens to stay connected with the magic of play and adopt it as a tool for self- discovery and life-long learning.

their sport to benefit psychologically from participating in it. The quality of the play is as important as the quantity of play. This is a key insight that can help change the current status quo and it is encouraging news. By focusing on the quality of the play, we can keep more children engaged in sports for longer. From our research and experience, we have put together this quick guide on what schools and parents could adopt to impart quality sporting experiences for students:

Younger children join a sport and play with enthusiasm and enjoy it immensely. When children are as young as 4, right up to perhaps 10, they do not play to win, but play to enjoy. As they grow up, the competitive element steps in and the fun element fades away. Sports, is then, linked to winning. Scoring points and winning, beating their friends who could be in a different team or earning medals and accolades - are all things that start to matter.

Competitive Sports

skills are not a pre-requisite and where the child gets to choose the games they want to play, with an option to participate in a specialized sports program when they want to. The programmes should focus on building both fitness, and social and emotional skills, through sustained engagement with play, creating positive sporting experiences that they enjoy and cherish. This will help children view sports not just as an end game of becoming an ‘athlete’, but also as a critical channel to engage with each other, have fun and improve.

Replace Competitive Sports with Play Sporting sessions organised by schools should focus more on the play aspect rather than the competitive aspect. Sports programmes should be presented in children-friendly formats where

Not to focus on champions or winners onlyIt is natural that we love winners and champions. However from a sports education stand point, it is imperative that schools ensure that children who are not necessarily “good” at sports are not left out. They should also be given equal opportunities to play allowing them to develop the game at their own pace. This can be done by organising sports on an ongoing basis rather than only focusing on it during special sports meets which are more competitive by design.

Involve ParentsToday parents are concerned about the social and emotional skills of their children and are

anxious to determine if they are “fit for life”. From our interactions with the parents of children we work with, we are often asked – “is my child a good team player?”, “does she take the lead?” etc. In order for sports programmes to be successful in schools, parents also need to work hand in hand with the school in ensuring their child stays motivated, enthusiastic and upbeat about sports. The USADA research found that coaches and parents are more important role models than anyone else. Parents’ positive encouragement towards playing sports can instill a greater sense of enjoyment, competence, and motivation in children.(2) Different Ways to Engage in Sports

Schools should also provide sports related experiences for children that go beyond just playing on the field. Screening sports movies, taking them on sporting adventure trips, conducting sports quizzes, getting children to act as commentators for tournaments etc., provide opportunities for children to explore sports in a way that appeals to them. And these positive experiences, over time, will translate into them seeking out opportunities to play.

REFERENCES:1. True Sport: What we stand to lose in our obsession to win. U.S. Anti-Doping Agency Report 20112. Why We Play Sport and Why We Stop – True Sport Report. U.S. Anti-Doping Agency Report 20103. www.usada.org/truesport/what-sport-means-in-america-research-report/4. fortune.com/2014/06/19/high-school-sports-business-cornell-job-market/

Children are sometimes pushed into competitive sports by their parents, forcing them to sign up for a sport that they are not interested in. While sports is a hugely positive experience, the pressure to perform and live up to expectations of parents causes a lot of stress for children, which leads eventually to quitting sports.

Parental Pressure

Specialised sports formats today demand children to inherently possess specific skills or competence rather than focusing on building them. These expectations exert pressure on children making playing less fun. Children have fun when they are active and feel competent and should not be pressured to compete at levels beyond their developmental capability. Experts caution against this practice and instead they encourage children to participate in a variety of activities to develop a well-rounded and wider range of sporting skills.(3)

Demands of Specialised Sports

BossaballDid you know? Bossaball is a team sport that originated in

Spain and was conceptualised by Belgian Filip

Eyckmans in 2004 . It is similar to volleyball, but

also includes elements of football, gymnastics,

dance and martial arts. The inflatable court

with integrated trampolines on each side of

the net, allowing players to bounce high enough to spike

the ball, adds great spectacularity! Each team consists of

4 or 5 players. The height of the net can be adjusted for

professionals, men, women or children. The change in

gravity, combined with the safety provided by the

inflatable surface, allows a whole new range of

techniques, team tactics and strategies. One can enjoy a

complete new kick of spiking down a ball from unseen

heights or make spectacular dives and play the ball in

original and creative ways. The play-field can be installed

on diverse locations, both in-and- outdoor. It takes less

than 45 minutes to set up the equipment and get ready to

play. Are you a football fanatic or do you consider

yourself more as a fancy dance floor shaker? Well, you will

certainly feel challenged by bossaball, a sports game that

has to be seen and played to be believed!

A game of Bossaball is played between

two teams of 4 or 5 players. An attacker

starts the game by standing on the

trampoline, and all the others around him

are on trampolines. The serving team will

either throw or kick the ball into the air

and attempt to hit it over the net. The

opposing team should use no more than

five contacts with the ball before they

return it to the other side. The contacts

that are allowed are a volley touch

(with both hands) and a soccer touch

(with any part of the body).

Neither side is allowed to touch the net.

The game continues with the rally going

back and forth, until the ball falls on the

court or hits the net!

Bossaball is usually scored with one point

when the ball hits the opponent’s play

area, three points where the ball is

played directly into the opponent’s

trampoline area, if it is a volley touch. If it

is a soccer touch, the points are at three

when the ball hits the opponent’s play

area, and five points when the ball is

played directly in the opponent’s

trampoline area.

Bossa translates to mean style, flair or

attitude in Brazillian Portuguese. It is

commonly associated with Samba

Music, known as Bossa Nova, leading to

the sport to be combined with music and

positive vibes. Bossaball is a tribute of sorts

that expresses the aim of bringing

together sports, music and positive vibra-

tions. At Bossaball shows, music is an

integral part with the referee – known as

the samba referee – donning the role of

an emcee, alongside being the referee

of the match too.

Food For Thought: Sports positively affect aspects of personal development such as self-esteem, goal-setting, and leadership.

Are you a good sport?Best Practices

Sports has always been associated with winning, with physical activity, with skills and fitness. But to 'Be

a Good Sport!' means a lot more than playing regularly and being good at a sport. To 'Be a Good

Sport' is to bring the best of the magic of sport to the world outside sport.

The world where you work, where you live, where you meet friends, where you argue, where you disagree, where you fail, where

you win, where you are treated unfairly and where sometimes, you get a chance to treat others unfairly. Sport has a lot of magic

for those who don't play sport. And to experience that magic, you don't have to be good at sport! You just need to 'Be a Good Sport'.

Okay, so how do you know if you are a Good Sport?

Here's a quick checklist:

Saumil MajmudarCo-founder & MD, EduSports

1. When you succeed, are you willing to give the credit and

glory to your team?

2. When your teammate is overworked or upset, do you

offer help, even if you are already stretched?

3. Do you ensure that you do more than your share of work

required in any situation, just so that the team wins?

4. When someone makes a mistake, do you give them the

benefit of doubt? Do you give people second chances? Do

you focus on ensuring that the issue doesn't happen again?

5. When you fail, are you willing to hold yourself accountable

for it?

6. Are you able to reach out to someone after a violent

disagreement and talk things over?

7. Are you able to focus on the problem and not the person?

8. Are you willing to stick to your values even if it means losing?

9. Are you able to 'get on with it' and work with teammates

you don't necessarily like?

10. Do you believe that leadership is a choice and not a

designation?

Have you answered 'Yes' to more than 5 out of 10 questions?

Thank you for being a Good Sport andfor making the world a better place!

Food For Thought: Sports positively affect aspects of personal development such as self-esteem, goal-setting, and leadership.

Good Sport

Give Credit Reconcile

Bene�t of Doubt Team Player

Extra E�ortNo Compromiseon Values

O�er Help Unbiased

AccountabilityLeadershipby Choice

Spotlight

Leading2Play is a bold, new and innovative program that brings the spontaneous fun of sandlot sports and neighborhood pick-up games to youth sports with a few added benefits as well.

1) Kids do much better when they own their own activities and collaborate/team with adults to meet each of these needs to:

a) Participate in sports, games, and general physical activity without unhealthy pressure from adults (parents or coaches), a break from information overload they are experiencing, and an alternative to the hyper-organized leagues for kids that nullify the rich benefits of spontaneous play. The overemphasis on competition, winning, trophies and scholarships is central to why an estimated four to five percent of the 35 million American kids involved in organized sports drop out each year according to Marty Ewing of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at Michigan State University. This dropout rate jumps to 10 - 14 percent when kids hit middle school, an age she calls “the most critical time in a child’s life” to encourage activity. Precisely when budding adolescents need the physical and mental benefits of sports participation.

b) Be treated as kids, not like miniatureprofessions or mini-adults. If kids are to develop character, healthy relationships and other life skills, adults must allow kids to do it in theirown way.

c) Experience adult role models whose behavior helps them to have fun, and grow from the experience. When we remember our childhood pickup games, we don’t remember who won or lost. What we remember is the joy of playing with our friends. Sure, we loved to compete. But left alone, we intuitively learned to do it the right way. The ancient pre-game playground ritual

"You Mean,You Let Everyone Play?"by Dr. George Selleck Founder, Leading2Play andEduSports Advisor.

I remember, as if it were yesterday, the total abandon we experienced in our unsupervised pick-up and sandlot games. We did not have to look over to the bench for guidance. Nor did we have to depend upon referees to establish a level playing field. We used the honor code in choosing teams, even sometimes, rearranging them midway through the game to correct imbalance. In addition, we did not have to answer to ambitious parents who were living their unfulfilled dreams through us. We seemed to know how to create and preserve the magic of sport and play. We were renewed by our experiences and could not wait until the sun rose so that we could return to the sanctuaryof the special world we created for ourselves, free from the “do this - don’t do that” life weso often experienced at home, school and our community.

We live in a totally different world today. We cannot easily turn back the clock to a time when young kids shaped and directed their play and athletic experiences.

Or can we?-the idea of choosing two “captains” who selected competing teams, player by player is based on one simple principle: kids want their teams to be as “even” in talent as possible, because games played by evenly-matched teams are more fun than when one team overwhelms another.

The No. 1 reason kids quit sports – 75-80% by the time they are 13: Parents. Andthe No. 2 reason: Coaches.

2) The “positives” that adults offer when parents and coaches actually give first priorityto the needs of kids. In two books, From the Bleachers With Love: Advice to Parents with Kids in Sports, and its’ companion, Beyond the Bleachers: The Art of Parenting Today’s Athletes, college teammate and long-time friend, Dave Epperson and I argued that in many areas of life, parents should lead and kids should follow, i.e., education, religion, values, etc., but in the volunteer areas of their lives, i.e., art, music, dance, sport and play, the kids should lead and the parents should follow or facilitate. Specifically, adults have added the importance and implementation of safety, improved instruction, and positive role modeling to the sandlot model of my day. The Leading2Play model provides these “positives” with an adult advisor collaborating with a youth Leadership team to the benefit of both youth and adults. 3) Tackling the obesity epidemic in our country. New studies are released every day citing increases in childhood and adolescent obesity, diabetes and other health issues related to a lack of physical activity and poor fitness. Nearly half of America's youth are not vigorously active on a regular basis; less than 20% of school students receive adequate physical education every week; 80% of young people stop partici-pating in organized sports activities by age 13. Perhaps the most startling of all: this is the first

“It is important that we put the fun back in sports - by putting sports back where they belong - in the hands of our kids”- Dr. George Selleck

The unique approach of Leading2Play, now being implemented by EduSports in their middle school sports program MILES, allows young people to build the kind of leadership skills that will help them become successful in their schools, relationships, careers and communities.

generation that is not projected to live longer than their parents.

Improving our children’s physical fitness has never been more critical. But how to do it? As psychologists and educators have learned, children tend to get more vigorous exercise from free play than from adult-designed practice. That's why Leading2Play puts youth in the front and center in designing and carrying out unique, inclusive sports and fitness activities. Whether they're planning a Frisbee golftournament or a Hula Hoop contest or a lunch-time flag football game, the kids are in charge and everyone's invited. This approach keeps kids of all abilities coming back for more.

Leading2Play is about fun, physical activity. Physical activity relieves stress and promotes good health. While there are many forms of exercise that offer these benefits, the uniqueness of the Leading2Play is that the benefits are a by-product of having fun. No mandatory laps or across-the-field lunges here!

While improving the fitness of young people is a primary goal of the Leading2Play, it is not the only goal. Putting young people in charge of the development, organization, and execution of the program serves as a tool for helping them discover and develop such critical life skills as creativity, planning, management, responsibility, leadership, and teamwork—skills that will serve them well in the classroom, too.

It is my hope that Leading2Play can play a part in putting the fun back in sports by putting sports back where they belong - in the hands of our kids. Perhaps then we will stop seeing a decline in youth sports, play and exercise participation and start seeing the resurgence of the type of sport that unites, connects, develops and strengthens our children, families, communities and nation.

So what exactly is the peer-peerlearning model?

There are no tryouts for Leading2Play. Anyone who wants to play can play!

Leading2Play gives kids a safe, supervised environment to play after school, noontime, and even on weekends

There are a variety of sports and activities available. There is some-thing for everyone with Leading2Play, whether they are new to sports or have been playing since they could walk!

“ It is very important that every child should be allowed to play sports. Sports bring about a lot of learnings of life which will not be learnt in the four walls of a classroom. For example, every child who competes knows their body which is not taught in the class. Actually physical fitness enables them to be mentally fit too because you are confident, you feel good that your body is capable of taking the physical load, as well as you enjoy being on the field. I don’t think any of us have come across a child who doesn’t like to play. And it is important for coordination, mental health and self-esteem. And I believe that children who purse sports and academics have a great learning in life because it is the only way a child experiences defeat and success in the same wavelength which is not there in any other field and that’s a learning a child will carry for life.”- Ashwini Nachappa, Former AthleteIn a recent interview with NDTV Prime

About EduSports:Started in January 2009, EduSports is India's first and leading school sports company designed around the philosophy that

structured physical activity & sports can be leveraged as a powerful teaching tool for experiential learning in a way which is

visceral, engaging and fun for children. Currently EduSports programme covers over 3,50,000 children in 400+ schools in

100+ cities across 4 countries.

All articles have been authored by the EduSports Research Council.If you would like to share the best practices adopted by your school in the area of sports education, please write to us

and we will be happy to feature you in one of our upcoming editions. Do write to us if you would like to subscribe to Time-

Out and we would love to hear your valuable feedback as well!

EduSports was featured on the show ‘Mindspace’ on NDTV Prime on 25th March 2015.

The theme of the NDTV show was - ‘Why sports is an important part of education’.

The show highlighted how start-ups like EduSports are working around the constraints in the Indian Education system by

developing innovative solutions to provide sporting opportunities to all school children.

For more details log onto www.edusports.in

You could watch the rerun of the show by scanning this code

or log onto http://goo.gl/WfhyBQ

Connect with us:

timeout@edusports.in

facebook.com/EduSports www.edusports.in

+91 90084 00036

http://issuu.com/edusports/docs/timeout