KBC 2.0 - Building youth leaders through sports

On its mission to end gender-based violence through the Kadam Badhate Chalo programme, Pro Sport Development is organising Sports Leadership Workshops across six Indian states, aiding youth in acquiring the required skills to become youth leaders who stand for gender equality.

As part of Kadam Bhadate Chalo (KBC) 2.0, a nationwide youth-led programme to end violence against women and girls (VAWG), run by Martha Farrell Foundation (MFF) and Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) in collaboration with Pro Sport Development (PSD), a series of sports leadership workshops will be held in programme locations in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Gujarat over the next few months. Similar to the workshops held during KBC 1.0 in 2016-17. These workshops aim to build the leadership qualities and communication skills of the KBC youth participants, as well as educate them on using sport as a medium to address gender issues in their own communities.

The third step of KBC 2.0, after the Freedom to Play and Gender through Sports workshops), the Sports Leadership Workshop equips the youth with transferrable skills including planning, organisation, facilitation and effective communication, by learning how to systematically deliver sports-based games to break gender stereotypes. To test their understanding, participants are given a chance to conduct some of these games as well as lead teams and debrief discussions

The first of the Sports Leadership Workshops as part of KBC 2.0 in 2017-18 was held in early December in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

Sharing her experience as part of this workshop, 16-year-old Muskan Khol said “In three days we learned a lot from the coaches, and we became leaders and taught others. That feeling after we became leaders was great, I liked it. Initially when we started to play with the opposite gender we were very hesitant, but gradually that hesitation was gone, I liked it very much.”

To ensure that the programme is truly youth-led and sustainable, the youth are encouraged to further educate members of their communities by initiating public events and activities in their neighbourhoods to talk about gender equality and violence against women and girls. Hence, the aim of the Sports Leadership Workshop is to equip the youth with the requisite skills that will make them competent and provide confidence to undertake public events.

Sharing his learning from Sports Leadership Workshop in Raipur, 16-year-old male Shubham Sahu said, “I felt very good after playing, and got to learn good things. I listened to trainers carefully, I learned about how to conduct a game, and we learned all these things through trainers. We are now ready to become coaches.”