Developing World Class Athletes in South West India

For such a large country, India hasn’t performed particularly well in international track athletics. Taking the Olympics as an example, India’s only track medal was at their first event participation back in 1900, when Norman Pritchard took silver for the Men’s 200m and Men’s 200m hurdles. Since that time, not one single Indian athlete has made the medal table of a running event. And if you can’t see it, then it’s very hard to be it. That’s where Bridges of Sports comes in. 

Bridges of Sports have developed an entire ecosystem dedicated to track athletics. Focusing on the socio-economically weak rural communities of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka, South West India, Bridges of Sports (BoS) are hoping to develop India’s fastest sprinters. Running as a non-profit organisation, BoS starts by identifying individuals who have the potential (and crucially the interest) to develop into a top athlete. They try to do this as young as possible, organising community meets to spot young people who show athletic abilities. 

Once a talented young person has been identified, the programme is truly holistic. Not just offering elite coaching, BoS also provides accommodation, nutritional plans, physical therapists, mental health support and opportunities for career progression into sporting roles. Their methods come from having visited communities in Jamaica and Kenya to see how their running culture is celebrated in society. Living on-site, the students have a traditional education alongside their sports training. The programme offers many benefits. As well as giving these children and young people the opportunity to compete at national and international levels, some particularly gifted students are able to continue their athletic training in places such as America with the support of Bridges of Sports. 

For BoS, reaching marginalised communities is incredibly important. Tribal communities are often left out of initiatives that increase sports participation and that is why BoS chooses to work specifically with them. All participants in their programmes come from communities that the Indian government classify as underprivileged. The Indo-African Siddi Community in Karnataka is one such group that BoS work with. 

Community is incredibly important in the work of BoS. Like the Gilgit-Baltistan Girls Football League in neighbouring Pakistan, BoS uses sports for social development and change as a way of achieving greater happiness, empowerment and equality in society. The organisation is incredibly passionate about the power of sport for enabling positive change. At the end of 2023 the founders spoke at the ‘Leaders in Sports’ summit in Bangalore on a panel about sports and social impact. 

Bridges of Sports also run sports days for children from local towns and villages. Not only is this a fun activity for the children, it also gives the organisation a chance to spot new talent and bring more people into the programme. Even if students don’t end up on the Bridges of Sports programme, they go back to their own communities and speak of the benefits of being involved in sports, thus changing their region for the better. The programme also helps to improve gender equality in the region. 60% of participants are female and many students have commented that their involvement with Bridges of Sports has meant that their communities are more accepting of women in sports and it has encouraged them to allow their daughters equal access to education. 

Set up in 2016, BoS have had 92 full-time athletes staying with them as part of their programme. They’ve reached over 10,000 children with their wider outreach work, impacting over 50,000 people in the local communities. We love the community spirit of Bridges of Sports and we can’t wait to see some of their home-grown athletes competing at international competitions around the world.