Did You Know?

According to a September 23, 2009 article in The Washington Post, 55.2% of high school students in the U.S. played sports for their schools and yet less than 40% of all teenage children in India even attend secondary schools.

Indian culture places great emphasis on formal education and achievement, and yet over half of their children leave school before the age of 15. The reality is that families either cannot afford to send their children to school, or their children are not academically prepared to succeed. For all of India’s growth economically, the country has yet to establish support networks for students who struggle.

Sport has served as a way to help promote education in the US and Canada for nearly 100 years. The Ivy League, known throughout the world for its academic rigor is an athletic conference after all.

Sports has served as a way to help promote education in both the U.S. and Canada for nearly 100 years and is a textbook example of learning occurring outside of the traditional classroom. If we can allow students in India the same access to academic opportunity through sport that students of other countries have enjoyed for generations, then we can help level the playing field - both literally and figuratively.