Participation over competition in sport events for young children
Sports carnivals are fun events where children can enjoy a variety of sports games and competitions. These carnivals have an inclusive spirit, with people coming together for an exciting day of socializing and recreation.
Pro Sport Development (PSD), in partnership with the Global Fund for Children (GFC), organized a two-day sports carnival at two community schools in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The carnival on the weekend of 11th-12th February 2023, attended by 351 children from the city’s marginalized communities. 190 boys and 161 girls participating in PSD’s flagship community sports program were in attendance. The children were accompanied by teachers and school staff. The sports carnival was organized on the 11th at Sai Saraswati School in Dumdumath February and in Beena Bharti Vidya Mandir, Bharatpur on 12th February. The participating children came from four schools, including the two host schools Ambedkar Siksha Kendra, Dumduma and St. Joseph High School, Jokalandi.
PSD staff were supported by a group of 24 volunteers and 3 peer leaders from the organization.
Even before the carnival gates opened, visibly enthusiastic and energetic children flocked to the place with their teachers. The carnival had innovative and engaging activities for all participating children. Six activity stations were set up each day, including the Netball Shooting Challenge, Kick and Goal Challenge, Bucket Challenge, Skittle Challenge, Group Up Challenge, and Ping Pong Bucket Challenge.
The activities were aimed at specific learning outcomes linked to certain basic movement skills (FMS) such as catching, jumping, throwing, hopping, etc. to ensure quality progress and development of the participants towards physical education.
The food and music at the carnival added to the celebrations as children danced happily to the tunes played. The children were also enthusiastic about the creative decorations at carnival.
One of the carnival participants said, “We enjoyed the carnival and played many games. I really enjoyed Kick the Cone game. Girls and boys played all the games together. We really had a lot of fun!”
Another participant shared: “I went to the sports carnival with my teacher and my schoolmates. We played different types of games at the carnival. I really enjoyed playing the table tennis, basketball and soccer games. We danced and had fun. Thank you PSD for giving us this opportunity.”
Akash Thapa, PSD Training and Monitoring Officer, said: “The idea was to give the children a different type of exposure than a traditional sporting competition. The focus of the carnival was that the children didn’t compete against each other, but had fun together.”
PSD x GFC
Pro Sport Development (PSD) has been running the Community Sports Program (CSP) for children from low-income families in various slum settlements in Bhubaneswar, Odisha since 2015. The CSP is a goal-oriented intervention that uses a specially designed and age-appropriate multisport curriculum to use physical activity, play and sport-based approaches to support children’s holistic development, including their socio-emotional development, as well as their physical health and well-being.
Since 2022, GFC has been supporting PSD to extend the CSP to children ages 5-11 as part of their PEAK initiative.
The program is conducted on-site by trained facilitators for a total of 378 participants in four community schools in Bhubaneswar.
In addition to running the program, PSD has provided each of the four schools with a multisport gear bag for use inside and outside of the program, containing a variety of age-appropriate exercise equipment – tennis balls, cricket bats, assorted stumps, large soccer balls, skill ladders, hula hoop hoops, cone markers and mini soccer ball posts and has provided sports equipment and masks to all program participants.