India

Sport Really For All

“Sport for School Children is one of these social commitments, and our strongest, because it is run solely by our team members. It’s a voluntary commitment. The aim of this initiative is to enable vulnerable children who don’t play sport for various reasons to discover a wide range of sports.

“Sport for School Children” is a weekly one-hour meeting with children from a public school or NGO located within a radius of 2 to 5 km. The volunteers for this project are members of our store team who wish to share their passion for sport.

The main aim of the program is to develop children’s social integration and life skills through sport.”

Tresa, Ambassador Decathlon Foundation India

“Every Wednesday, I’m surrounded by these enthusiastic SRFA kids. I enjoy the bond I have with all the kids, and the fact that they behave well at rugby makes me proud. The girls are also working hard to keep up with the boys at rugby!”

Saharul Peada

Decathlon Indore

The history of the project

Decathlon Foundation and Decathlon India with 30 team members across different verticals undertook an immersion activity in 8 locations (urban, rural, semi-urban).

The outcome of the co-creation was that sports can solve social issues such as health, mental development of individuals and create impact on productivity of an individual, promoting a better society.

This resulted in 2016 in the launch of the Sport for School Children initiative to move vulnerable children through the wonders of sports. A program for those children who do not have access to sports for reasons such as lack of awareness, accessibility, affordability or inhibition, with the primary focus on government schools that do not have sports education integrated in their educational curriculum.

Every week, decathlon teammates go to the schools to give sports class lessons to the children.

Since 2016, this project has reached out to 12000+ children across 60+ government schools and with more than 800+ volunteers.

Vysakh Vijayakumar, Decathlon Vyttila

“My strong interest in children led me to volunteer on this project. Every time I open the school door and see the children’s smiling faces, I feel the overwhelming need to give them the opportunity that many children wish they had – like a brother who tells them a story, plays with them, teaches them lessons, laughs at their jokes”

Lokesh Vishwakarma, Decathlon Hennur Road

“It’s always been a dream of mine to become a superhero! But now that I’m part of the SRFA project, I feel like I’ve gained an invisible but incredible cap of a superhero, yes!

It allows me and my team to spread smiles, set an example and inspire the children at the school.

A big thank you to Decathlon Sports India for giving me the opportunity and freedom to do what I love and make my smile brighter!”