Khel Vikas: Developing young leaders in Gajapati

Scripting a new sporting chapter in the region of Gajapati P4SS successfully held the third edition of its community coaching course at the Mahendra Tanaya Ashram school, Koinpur (India) in the last week of September.

The two-day training course taught 18 young enthusiasts the general principles of sports coaching and leadership skills so that they can support the development of youth in their villages.

The course, which is part of the Khel Vikas initiative that P4SS has pioneered with Gram Vikas in Odisha, welcomed participants from the local villages of Ankuli, Belapadam, Koinpur, Lumudasing, Manikapatna and Tumbo in the region. The Mahendra Tanaya Ashram school is run by the award-winning rural development organisation, Gram Vikas and caters for underprivileged youth.

A new language
In line with its efforts to adapt to local resources, P4SS ran the course in the local language Oriya for the first time.  All the manuals and resources were translated into Oriya, for the course so that the learning can be more effective, productive and relevant for the participants.

The course, a mix of theory and practical sessions, facilitated dialogues and group tasks to allow for focus and interactivity in equal measure.  There were also role-play sessions which revolved around real-time coaching scenarios to build participant confidence.

P4SS’s coach development programme, that was initiated in June this year, has now trained around 60 young sports coaches in the region.  P4SS remains on track to achieve its goal of training 100 participants in sport-specific and general coaching skills by May 2014.

[This article has been edited by the Operating Team]