Sports and the people
Community Development through Sports
From survival to maintaining health to mobilising communities towards excellence, sports has always been an integral part of human history and development of our communities. Since many years, sports has been a tool for integration and social cohesion since it fosters critical human values like teamwork, respect for others, dignity in labour and grace in failure. Whether actively as players or passively as family members, supporters, followers and fans - these life skills and key values are imbibed in the community through perseverance in sports. Sports teaches us that it isn’t always about winning but mainly about participating - the benefits of which transcends manmade barriers like ethnicity, race, religion as well as natural barriers of age and gender.
ADOPT aims to harness this power of sports to bring intrinsic change in the rural communities of Maharashtra. By scoping out potential talent and honing them through our zero-compromise system, we intend to create a ripple effect of developmental changes through the entire ecosystem of the athlete - which begins at the immediate family of the athlete and goes further than the entire hamlet / village.
The following visualisation shows how the value systems are impacted across different layers of the society.
ADOPT'S INTERVENTION
An elite athlete today is a beacon of hope and encouragement for many young impressionable minds who can envision a successful life outside of the conventional classroom and office space. This mentor and idol has to be the embodiment of good health, a balanced personality and professional success. ADOPT specifically works on these 3 aspects so that the athlete can shoulder this huge responsibility towards the community.
Health
With ADOPT, the athlete becomes a living example of a high-performance sportsperson and embodies all aspects of health, fitness, dedication and strength. As part of our zero compromise system, ADOPT provides regular supplements and nutritional stipend to its athletes to maintain a specific high-performance diet suitable for his/ her sporting targets. With such strategic and non-negotiable approach towards health and nutrition being displayed everyday to the athlete’s circle of influence, there is a definite change in the perspective of the community towards these important parameters. This influence progressively intensifies as the athlete excels and brings laurels to the community and he/she becomes a spokesperson for leading a healthy life backed by good nutrition and exercise.
Education for Sports
Pursuing formal education till graduation is mandatory under ADOPT. However, ADOPT’s intervention in education for sports goes much beyond supporting the athlete’s education. We focus on building 3 key values in the athlete - aspiration, self-confidence and decision-making. Why these 3 - because they are key elements of the affective domain of the athlete’s psychology - thus defining their temperament and the trajectory of their sporting careers. Furthermore, this will help them navigate life outside of the stadium more efficiently, helping them lead a balanced and fulfilling life. Instead of the sport becoming the athlete’s only identity, our aim is for the opposite to happen - the athlete should become the identity of the sport for the community!
Livelihood
Today, with the scale at which the sports industry is growing, there is an entire spectrum of cross-sectoral opportunities in the field that one can pursue - where an athlete can have a definite edge with his/her innate understanding of the subject matter. This can also be a very logical and prudent step in the life of an athlete after retirement. Even as a competitive athlete, there are numerous ‘sports quota’ jobs that can help the athlete earn a livelihood and support the family. However, rural and tribal athletes can lose out on these opportunities due to lack of knowledge and soft skills that are necessary to sustain in the professional environment. ADOPT is filling this gap with early intervention in education and mentoring of the athlete. With this critical supplemental guidance, we are ensuring a clear path towards sustainable livelihood for the athlete throughout his sporting career and later on as well. Additionally, under the ‘zero compromise system’, the most expensive part of the athlete’s regime for excellence is taken care of by ADOPT, thus offsetting the existing strain on the family income of the athlete.
HOW DO WE DO IT?
aligning with global goals
Sports is an important tool for community mobilisation for social change and can contribute to the sustainable development in the society . ADOPT is raising the visibility and understanding of Sports for fulfilment of the many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN member states in 2015. Here are all the goals that ADOPT Sports is working on at the grass-root level :
