The sports industry is a multi- billion dollar industry which
attracts millions of people either to participate or to witness sports. The
professionalism in sports has made a radical change in the pattern of consumption,
production and management of sports events, sports persons and sporting
organizations. The application of modern managerial tools and techniques
becomes more and more relevant to make these activities viable, feasible and
doable. Today, the commercial aspect of sports is of utmost importance. However,
there are other aspects of sports which we often tend to ignore. The objective of this blog is to explore the
possibilities of using sports as a vehicle to spread education, especially for
the children of the under-served communities of the world.
Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of United Nations, once said, “Sports
can play a role of improving the lives of whole community.” This concept of
empowering community has properly been implemented by a sport NGO which started
its journey in Kenya in 1987 with a small self- help project. This NGO
introduced a football league involving the slum children by adopting ‘Pay it
Back’ approach. More than 14,000 children use to participate in this league and
in return of the facilities provided by the NGO, the children have to take part
in various social awareness and health- related programmes, such as
neighbourhood cleaning, plating trees, cleaning water, attending classes on HIV
awareness, malaria prevention, pregnancy and drug awareness. Scholarships are
provided for excellent performances in photography, music and drama. A former
goalkeeper of this project mentioned, “Older kids, who have been involved since
its beginning, have become the leaders and the role models in the community and
football has been the catalyst for their social, physical and intellectual
development”.
There are number of benefits of this kind of projects. First, it
makes the children of the under-served communities aware of social issues which
help them to understand the importance of coordination, cooperation, discipline
and social bonding. Second, it makes them aware of the health- related issues
which help them to lead a healthy life. Third, the project supports them in
developing skills in photography, music and drama which enhance the possibilities
of future employment. Finally, it generates employment in the form of
instructors who play an instrumental role in running the project.
In another example, sport is directly used to make the children
aware of the social and health- related issues. In this example, a child is
asked to run with a ball to a box in which the images of health relate topics
are kept. The child is then asked by the instructor to pick up a specific image
and to explain. If the child fails to perform, he has to return and pass the
ball to the other child who has to complete the task then.
A Kolkata based NGO engages the differently- abled children to
participate in various adventure tours and sporting activities to provide them
an opportunity to build their confidence. As a part of this programme, the
participants are taken to the remote and desolate areas of a jungle or a river
or a mountain to face various challenges which are difficult to overcome. Each
member of the team is given adequate training to combat those challenges. It is
quite encouraging that, so far, these ‘differently abled’ people succeeded to
overcome all challenges given to them and proved that they are not inferior to
anybody, but ‘superior’ in overcoming challenges in life. The impact of this programme is immense in
making them aware of their abilities.
From these examples, it is evident that sports can be effectively
used as a medium to spread education, especially for the children of the economically
backward communities and the physically challenged. It empowers the entire
community by making them aware of social and health related issues and also by
enhancing the possibilities of future employment. The effective implementation
of ‘Education through Sports’ programme may play an instrumental role in
solving problems like illiteracy and drop-outs. We may conclude with the words
of Irina Bokova, Director General, UNESCO:
“We cannot afford to
create a lost generation of children deprived of their chance for an education
that might lift them out of poverty”
Sport is a route to spread education among the under-served of the
communities of the world.
