Abhinav Bindra Foundation to showcase how sports can be used for youth development

The episode is scheduled to be hosted at 3 pm (IST) on 23rd November, and is titled 'Sports for Youth Development: Values┃Skills┃Livelihood┃Growth'. The discourse will focus on how the Olympic values can positively influence a young person's life including behaviour, habits, life skills, employability, mindset and aspirations.

Registration link for the webinar is: Sports for Youth Development

A brief description of the panelists' professional work and qualifications is given below:

● Dr. Stephan Wassong: Member, IOC Olympic Education Commission, Executive and Academic Director of the Olympic Studies Centre at the German Sports University Cologne

● Dr. Ben Sanders: Senior consultant at the International Platform on Sport and Development. A thought leader in sport for development and peace; experienced in designing, delivering and evaluating policies and programmes that use sport for sustainable development. He has worked with the United Nations, Commonwealth, FIFA, Laureus among others.

● Ravi Nayse: Vice President of the Skill & Entrepreneurship Development Institute (SEDI), an initiative by the Ambuja Cements Foundation aimed at training youth across rural India, enabling them to secure well-paid jobs in reputed companies.

● Hilla Davidov: Ph.D. candidate in the Olympic Studies program at Köln University (GER) and functions as the CEO of the International Catchball Federation. Member of the International Pierre de Coubertin Committee, Member of the Israel Advisory Committee for re-designing the National Curriculum in Physical Education, Olympic Values Education Program trainer.

The virtual 90-minute discussion will be held using a video-conferencing platform, Zoom, and will be moderated by Arka Bhattacharya, Director of External Relations at GITAM University.

Sports Education partner - International Institute of Sports Management (IISM), Education Partner - GITAM University, Media Partner - The Bridge

Dr. Stephan Wassong said, "Olympism has its roots in the past but is still relevant today – particularly when it comes to the education of the youth. It is not a panacea but can make a contribution to the strengthening of life skills."

Dr. Ben Sanders said, "The youth is not only the future of sport and society - they are also the present and need to be at the forefront of efforts to ensure sport better serves their needs and those of society."

Hilla Davidov said, "I view sport as a way of life, not only as a 17-day Olympic Games celebration. I believe we should build and integrate a structural sports component into children's education. Using sport as a tool for teaching life skills, learning becomes fun, with an evidence-based positive effect on physical and mental well-being – sound mind in a sound body."

Ravi Nayse said, "I believe Olympism is about fighting and competing with sportsmen spirit while respecting the talent in self as well as in others. The youth possesses an abundance of energy and it should be utilized in the right spirit. Which is why I am excited to be a little part of this initiative by the Abhinav Bindra Foundation to spread the Olympic Values amongst the youth."

About ABFT: The Abhinav Bindra Foundation in India aims to bring Global Best Practices into the Indian Sporting Landscape, not only supporting what currently exists as a protocol in Sport, but also to make it more accountable, expert-driven, and locally contextualized. Under the vision of India's only Individual Olympic Gold Medalist, Mr. Abhinav Bindra, the Foundation operates under 3 pillars - Education, Intervention, and Social Upliftment. With activities across the country, the objective is to ensure that we help India redefine its understanding of sport and use that understanding to improve the day-to-day process of creating a robust Sporting Ecosystem that can create World Champions. Because it's not every four years, it's every day!