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Who knew that training sessions and playing a few matches will make an enthusiastic and aggressive teenager channelize his energies in a positive direction? Well that’s exactly what happened to Ganga, who for the last two years is taking part in the league matches organised by Delhi-based Khel Khel Mein Foundation and has realized that his happiness lies in sports. And not just his exploits on the field, he has also shown tremendous improvement and calmness in classroom since then!
Matches like these will be a common occurrence in Delhi until February 2016 held by the Khel Khel Mein Foundation (KKMF), started by a group of Teach for India fellows in 2013, the foundation offers comprehensive sports education across the Teach for India network of schools in Delhi as well as in underprivileged communities and rural schools.
The idea behind KKMF is pretty simple yet valuable. Sports are important to make the kids learn basic life skills and are a way for them to experience life changing values like teamwork, positivity, strategy, respect and many such qualities that come with playing.
KKMF organises matches across different sporting disciplines and this year they have lined up three games: football, kho-kho and a traditional Indian game called Surr. Their league season 2015/16, in which girls and boys play in two categories: Under-11 and Under-14, is currently under progress. The tournament will run for around three months with zonals, playoffs and then the finals scheduled to be held in February 2016.
KKMF successfully held the second day of league matches in Arwachin Public School for their east cluster last Sunday. It followed their first league match day at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex on 1st November for the south Delhi schools. On the second league match day 542 kids participated in over a 100 matches across the three disciplines. The kids and the adults associated with the events spent their weekend learning quite a lot.
Jasmeet, a co-founder, shared what learning she is taking back home: “A beautiful moment for me on the league day... Krishna, a girl from 3rd grade in Munirka, my old school, had a tiff with her team-mates about where to stand in Surr and walked off. We had a chat and I managed to convince her to play. But she would play only if I was the referee. So I became one for that match. And lo! She was the first person to reach the fourth quadrant multiple times for her team!”
Khel Khel Mein Foundation’s motto: “Play Perform Prosper” is clearly evident in their vision of the league, which allows participating students to make choices.
Each match carries a score of 10 points, which is divided into two parts: fair play and technical proficiency. Kids come together before the match in a “pre-match discussion” to decide upon the weight age they want to give to each part without their teacher’s intervention and in the “post-match discussion”, the students assign their opposition fair play points. The winning team take home all the technical proficiency points.
With just a small act of making a conscious choice in each match, students learn the values of playing fairly and within the rules during the course of a game.
A TFI fellow, Rashmi, shared: “One thing that stood out - all the fellows and the other Teach for India officials conducting the matches were great with children.
“Although I volunteered for the first time, I never felt like a new comer. It felt like I was part of this family. People are great with each other. It was a fun-filled and satisfying experience, although I was very tired by the end of the day, but I enjoyed myself to the fullest.Sri Hari, a volunteer with KKMF, said: “Some little girls playing in an Under-14 kho-kho match defeated a team physically much stronger than them with an amazing score difference.
“And most importantly, they laughed and giggled their way through. It was so much fun to see.”
If one match can bring so much value to someone’s life, it will be interesting to see how the league impacts the kids and helps them become better human beings and live fulfilling lives.
Sports are truly one subject that makes everyone’s heart race and make us better!
To volunteer with KKMF or help them financially or any other way drop in a line at [email protected] or visit their website www.khelkhelmeinfoundation.org or their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TOKKMF.
