A typical session half starts with Nupur, who is also a child psychologist, having an informal interaction with the girls
Every evening, the Shanti Niketan community centre comes alive with excited squeals and laughter of young girls, chasing their object of desire — a football. Soon afterwards, they huddle to talk about school, friends, food, siblings and so on.
At the centre of this frenzied activity is ‘The Art of Sport’ (TAOS), a startup by Delhi-based couple Richard and Nupur Pavia, which aims to encourage girls to play sports for their holistic development and to channel a change in mindset that restricts them from running wild in the playfield.
Parents of two young daughters, the Pavia couple were irked at the wide gap in sports facilities for children, especially for girls. Then there was the socio-cultural dogma that believes in protecting the girls’ “delicate frames”, while cheering on the boys to sweat it out. “Even educated families do not appreciate their daughters playing strenuous sports, such as football and basketball. They prefer them to take piano lessons, learn kathak and so on,” Richard said.
Finally, in July last year, the couple launched TAOS. “We wanted parents to understand that playing sports was very important for emotional, mental, and physical development of girls. It should not be seen only as boys’ thing,” Richard said. What started with just two girls in 2016 is a 30-girl strong group now, all in the age group of 5-12 years, playing various sports for one-and-a-half hours twice a week. A typical session half starts with Nupur, who is also a child psychologist, having an informal interaction with the girls, where they are encouraged to “express their feelings, not just thoughts”. They then play football or basketball to exercise as well as learn about team spirit.
TEAM DYNAMICS
- A typical session half starts with Nupur, who is also a child psychologist, having an informal interaction with the girls.
- The girls are encouraged to express their feelings, not just thoughts.
- They then play rounds of football or basketball to exercise as well as learn about team spirit.
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