Beating all odds, several underprivileged kids from Noida’s Gejha village are learning basketball with a hope to make a name for themselves and helping their families to overcome hardships.
Kids at the academy firmly believe that playing basketball keeps them physically and mentally fit. Basketball has brought happiness not just in the lives of these kids but for their parents also, as they feel their children now remain busy constructively.
Beating all odds, several underprivileged kids from Noida’s Gejha village are learning basketball with a hope to make a name for themselves and helping their families to overcome hardships.
These kids, whose parents work as house helps, security guards, plumbers, electricians, vegetable sellers and small-time shopkeepers, come to ‘Dribble Academy’ -- a basketball training centre at the premises of NEM Public School at Sector 93 here -- after their school hours with a hope to do well in their lives. Dribble Academy is the brain-child of Noida-based Pradyot Voleti, a former basketball player.
“We have been working with around 3,000 underprivileged kids in seven villages. At Uttar Pradesh’s Gejha village project, we currently have around 400-500 children and half of them are girls,” said Voleti, founder of Dribble Academy Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, which runs this academy to train kids free of cost.
He said, these children come from a very difficult background and their parents work as gardeners, electricians, plumbers and domestic helps. “Basketball has definitely been a game changer for them. Through this sport they learn discipline, team work and time management. They also learn to respect each other as boys and girls compete together,” said Voleti.
Our request to the government is that every five-ten square kilometre of area should have a mini stadium where children have an opportunity to learn multiple sports, he said, adding that, "Just an empty ground with some grass is purposeless".
Children deserve an equal opportunity as a fundamental right to have basic access to multiple sports, Voleti said, and asked the government to come up with a policy to set up sports infrastructure at village levels.
“I have been coming to this training centre for the past four years. I want to encourage more girls from my area to learn basketball,” said Kajal Kumari, a 15-year-old student. Kajal, whose father works in a private factory, wants to convince parents of other girls from her area to let their children play basketball as she feels that they can do wonders in their life by learning the game.
For Anshu Pal, another young player from the academy, learning basketball has made her confident and also brought many positive changes in people around her. “Initially, neighbours were a bit unhappy about girls wearing shorts for playing basketball. But, after having joined this academy, I have noticed positive changes in people around me,” she said.
Like girls, boys from the area also come in huge numbers to practice and learn the game. “Once my father saw me playing basketball in one of the recent tournaments. May be he realised my potential in the game and since then he has controlled his alcohol drinking habit,” said Arun Kumar, a 13-year-old student.
Kids at the academy firmly believe that playing basketball keeps them physically and mentally fit. Basketball has brought happiness not just in the lives of these kids but for their parents also, as they feel their children now remain busy constructively.
“I have two children, a boy and a girl. Both of them come to this academy. I have seen a lot of changes in them. They get up early, do their work themselves and then go to school and also to the academy. I wish they keep playing and make a name for themselves,” said Shalini Jaiswal, who works as a cook in a neighbouring housing society.
Urmila Singh, a coach at the academy, aspires to become an international coach herself. “It is heartening to see these underprivileged children play so well,” said Singh, who is pursuing bachelor’s degree from Delhi University.
(With PTI inputs)