LLABTOOF YKRAPS MAGAZINE 2018 - 19
CONTENTS
SPARKY FOOTBALL
Welcome Letter from the Founder Media and Highlights Sparky Philosophy Meet the Team Sparky Methodology Freestyle Football Sparky Programs Sparky Workshops Volunteer Induction Program Sparky Celebrates! Fundraising Efforts Community Impact Global Recognition Testimonials Special Thanks
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Magazine Editors: Athreya Kadambi Tejas 2
WELCOME!
SPARKY FOOTBALL
At Sparky Football, we use the power of football to engage, educate and empower children and youth with critical life skills and psycho-social skills. We strive to create advanced, highly inclusive learning ecosystems through our football curriculum. Underpinning the very origin of Sparky Football lies a commitment to deliver a socially responsible system of holistic development – via football. We are steadfast in our mission to better enable the youth of today to effectively tackle challenges through adaptive and positive behavior.
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LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER
SPARKY FOOTBALL
Greetings! With a deep rooted-passion and love for sport, Sparky Football was founded to bring joy and well-being to the people around me. It has been a significant accomplishment to create legacies in thousands of lives around the world. This journey with my organization has redefined my life and has led me to be a purposeful individual for others and for myself. It has inspired me to use the power of football to Engage, Educate and Empower children on the United Nations sustainable development goals (Good Health and Well-Being, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Decent Work and Economic Growth) to achieve a long-lived social impact. Everything I do – all the things I have done, the people I have met and the places I have been to – I owe to football. Football has filled a great part of my life. I wish to gift these incredible experiences to people around the world and live a meaningful life. Sparky Football is not just an organization, but a way of life for our football family. I want to thank all of you - my children, coaches, parents, volunteers and well-wishers - for keeping me blessed as we continue to embark on this courageous and worthy endeavor. Tejas
Founder and Director Sparky Football
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MEDIA AND HIGHLIGHTS
SPARKY FOOTBALL
Sparky Football featured on TEDx
Sparky Football Heroes of Bangalore
National Inclusion Cup 2017 6th Place in India amongst 24 States
Sparky Football featured on UEFA 5
MEDIA AND HIGHLIGHTS
SPARKY FOOTBALL
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SPARKy PHILOSOPHY
SPARKY FOOTBALL
Sparky Football’s motto, “Make Your Wounds Proud”, represents a critical construct identified, inculcated, and nurtured among all children and youth in our programs: resilience. Sparky Football is propelled by three principles - Engagement, Education and Empowerment.
ENGAGE
EDUCATE
EMPOWER
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MEET THE TEAM
SPARKY FOOTBALL
WISILOU BOU Head Coach and Sparky Leader
AKSHAY SINGH R Head Coach
GAUTAM SHARMA Marketing Lead
TEJAS Founder and Director
ATHREYA COO and Head Coach 8
SPARKY METHODOLOGY
SPARKY FOOTBALL
We strive to impart 21st century life skills and strengthen physical and mental fitness through our unique football therapy. Â Using football as a social tool, we develop interactive, fun workshops to impart 21st Century skills in a tailored and contextual format. Our curricula are developed in collaboration with Coaches Across Continents (CAC)
LEADERSHIP
CONFIDENCE
SAFE SPACE
CRITICAL THINKING
ECO-FRIENDLY
CREATIVITY
INITIATIVE
COLLABORATION
COMMUNICATION
INFORMATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY
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FREESTYLE FOOTBALL
SPARKY FOOTBALL
At Sparky, we use freestyle football as a medium to empower children. Freestyle Football is an art of meditative, therapeutic self-expression which nurtures children to explore the imaginative and creative facets of their personality. Our unique methodology was featured in a Switzerland-based organization, SportsandDev.org “With many organisations using conventional sports to achieve their own programme objectives, Sparky Football has come out to illustrate the need to adopt new methods in implementing sports for development activities, whether it's in New Delhi, Bombay, Karnataka or Lyon. Such novel intentions have seen Sparky Football’s efforts being showcased at the UEFA Euro 16 as well as TEDX. While continuously adapting to new methods of engaging beneficiaries through sports is a topic that needs to be explored further, impact, sustainability and ethics must not be wished away.” - SportsandDev.org 10
SPARKY PROGRAMS
SPARKY FOOTBALL
Puttenahalli Government School A New Beginning!
In attempts to offer teachers and students a new perspective on current educational practices, we commenced a new program at the Puttenahalli Government School, focused on health and wellness, communication skills, teamwork and non-violent behaviors through our contextual football curriculum.
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SPARKY RESIDENTIAL PROGRAMS At Sparky, we are keen to explore opportunities to work with children from diverse backgrounds. This was the impetus to design and execute our Sparky Residential Programs. We strive to enable and encourage collaboration and healthy competition among our students, who have had the opportunity to participate in friendly matches at Tiger 5, Ol’ Trafford and Fairplay Arena football turfs.
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SPARKY FOOTBALL
SPARKY TODDLER PROGRAM
SPARKY FOOTBALL
To diversify our reach and create an impact in the young, sincere lives of children under 5 years, we established our very first Sparky Toddler Program.
We focus on teamwork, body dynamics, motor skills, communication and self-expression through interactive games and visual storytelling - while actively involving parents too!
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SPARKY WORKSHOPS
SPARKY FOOTBALL
"Teach-the-Teacher" Workshop
On 29th October 2018, we were invited to facilitate a life skills workshop for teachers in a program called ‘T-Cheers’, organized by Manta for Change. The workshop encouraged teachers to extend learning outside the classroom and undertake a holistic approach to education, demonstrating key life-skill training techniques through interactive activities. This workshop focused on building safe spaces, exploring innovative problem-solving methodologies, exhibiting key leadership skills and inculcating social responsibility.
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VOLUNTEER INDUCTION PROGRAM
SPARKY FOOTBALL
OBSERVE ENGAGE
CONDUCT 6 volunteers joined the Sparky team and participated in our Volunteer Induction Program. Volunteers were introduced to Sparky's philosophy and objectives through a structured, contextualized approach. We used a three pronged approach - Observe, Engage, Conduct - to outline individual roles and responsibilities.
"Football is not just a game. It's more than that! And I've seen that in the eyes of the kids we work with.. it's pure joy and learning that you impart with each interaction." ~ Sree Harsha, Volunteer.
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Sparky CELEBRATES!
SPARKY FOOTBALL
Desire Society
To learn more about our students - their desires and dreams beyond football - Sparky conducted the ‘Make a Wish Come True’ campaign at Desire Society. We asked our students to write their wishes on a piece of paper and distributed them among volunteers. Our students wished for football shoes, slippers, clothes, chocolates etc. We were happy to have the opportunity to fulfil all their wishes!
FIFA World Cup Celebrations 2018 was an important year for the football community - due to the FIFA World Cup! The Sparky family joined the celebrations with face painting, football trivia and by played a football tournament inspired by the World Cup in Russia.
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SPARKY CELEBRATES!
SPARKY FOOTBALL
The Sparky family is proud to celebrate all our students achievements. Our students are thrilled to share their achievements and accolades with us. Aryan received the Player of the Match award for the U-14 RFL league in Bangalore. Daivik won medals in tournaments organized in his school. Sameer made us proud with his black belt in Karate.
We conducted a Children's Day workshop in collaboration with Mantra for Change for twenty 10th standard students from Low Fee Private Schools, who were transitioning to a college environment. Our life skill workshop focused on offering guidance and coping strategies to ease this transition.
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FUNDRAISING EFFORTS
SPARKY FOOTBALL
SHOE & EQUIPMENT COLLECTION DRIVE The Sparky team conducted a shoe and equipment drive, requesting residential communities to donate their old shoes. We distributed the donated equipment among our students enrolled in the Puttenahalli Government School program.
Several fundraising campaigns were conducted over the year and used to establish programs, purchase equipment and provide stipends for coaches and volunteers. The Sparky team successfully raised funds in apartments, malls, Ketto and Fairplay Arena.
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COMMUNITY IMPACT
SPARKY FOOTBALL
All our students from our programs came together for a tournament conducted by the Rejuvenators to champion social inclusiveness. It was an enriching experience for the Sparky team as our students worked together to win the Rejuvenators U-14 championship.
Vinod, our local guardian for our football program in Cox town won the Golden Friends Tournament.
Our COO and head coach, Athreya Kadambi cinched the The Amateur League 2018 Championship. They were undefeated throughout the season.
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COMMUNITY IMPACT
SPARKY FOOTBALL
Sparky Football was invited for Chelsea India’s Annual event, ‘Blue Arena’. Our students had the opportunity to play along with Chelsea India Supporters Club representatives and supporters.
"I Am Sparky" To encourage social responsibility and local youth transformation essential to Sparky Football's Philosophy - a social media initiative, "I Am Sparky", was kickstarted.
Bangalore Mirror featured our work with HIV community groups at Desire Society, Bangalore.
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global RECOGNITION
SPARKY FOOTBALL
Sparky Football was featured on a national series: "India Plays". An Oaktree productions initiative, led by celebrity Gaurav Kapoor, the video was well received and shared by Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan and Indian Cricketer Shikhar Dhawan. Sparky Football was certified by The Uyolo Fund (Paris, France) for its Governance, Accountability and Transparency strategies as well as its Sustainable Impact.
Tejas became a Global Ambassador for Western Union in 2019. Sparkt Football was featured on a Western Union documentary series, "Live More, Share More"
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global RECOGNITION Tejas represented India as a Community Impact Coach to establish a "Sports for Development� project for the Rohingya refugees in collaboration with Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Coaches Across Continents (CAC) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangladesh. The program was implemented in 25 different refugee camps at the border of Bangladesh and Myanmar with over 100,000 children.
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SPARKY FOOTBALL
global RECOGNITION
SPARKY FOOTBALL
With the support of Coaches Across Continents, Sparky Football attended the Grassroots Certification Program conducted by the Scort-Football Alliance Foundation, (Switzerland) and facilitated by the Oscar Foundation. The program took place in Mumbai, at the Cooperage ground for 4 days and was led by coaches from two German clubs: FC Schalke 04 and Bayern Leverkusen .
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TESTIMONIALS
SPARKY FOOTBALL
“Every time I visit India I am fascinated with its people. Despite so many challenges, there are incredible projects aiming for a better future. Tejas' enthusiasm with Sparky Football is contagious and an inspiration to many young people that are finding a way to help making this world a better place through sports and education, and it was great to spend time filming his story to share it with a wider audience around the world.� ~ Marcio Delgado Journalist|Producer, RDB Austria "Tejas is one of the world's great people. Combining his passion for football, his unique abilities to showcase his talents and create wonder among his audiences, and most importantly his desire to use sport to create legacies of social change, Tejas has impacted communities in his native India as well as around the world. Coaches Across Continents, a global leader in sport for social impact, is a proud partner of Sparky Football." ~ Brian Suskiewicz, Cheif Executive Strategist, Coaches Across Continents 24
TESTIMONIALS
SPARKY FOOTBALL
"...thought of sharing with you...in Dhruv's school they gave a topic of community helper...I asked Dhruv what you want to become...As he always talks about pilot I felt the same...to my surprise he said I want to be a football coach like Tejas sir...When I was making him ready he said Mumma Tejas sir wears jacket and cap...please can I have that too." - Parent
"I'm really happy how our kids are enjoying the same. Like you rightly put, game is just one aspect, multiple things are taking care off (sportsmanship). I look forward to many more such sessions. Aayush is happy with the coach and I cannot ask for more. Great work team. Hats off! Thank you." - Parent "Initially Sachin was little hesitant about the classes but now, he always looks forward for the class, which is indirectly a positive sign that he have started enjoying the class. And I love the way you have been building up things to make them enjoy the class e.g. giving them a talk or creating a jungle for them, stories etc. I am sure that as a coach you are working on different aspects of the game silently I am satisfied with the way the game is being doing. Thank you once again for the efforts you have been putting with these kids!" - Parent
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SPECIAL THANKS
SPARKY FOOTBALL
Our Partner
Our Coaches and Volunteers
Our Students, Parents and Well-Wishers
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SPARKY FOOTBALL
Every Dream is Valid!
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SPARKY FOOTBALL
Together, We Are Champions!
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