CRY organizes ‘Shankara Buildpro Soccer for Child Rights’

Bangalore: Child Rights and You (CRY) one of India’s leading NGO’s working on child rights organised a soccer tournament to sensitize people on child rights issues. The event saw some of the top corporates from the city come together and play the ‘beautiful game’ all for a common cause- to uphold the rights of children.

There are 3 lakh + working children and adolescents between 5-19 years in Bangalore, of which only 35% attend educational institutions. The event is crafted to make people aware about sports being a great facilitator of change. It not only encourages children to go to school but alongside ensures they are not drawn into child labour and marriage.

The event, since its inception, has seen a lot of children embrace sports at a competitive level. From Nanda Kumar who has represented Indian team in Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to Bheemabhai who has received the prestigious Ashoka Youth Venture programme for she aims to empower slum children on child rights through sports. This event has far reaching impact – from nurturing individuals who go onto acquiring distinctive achievements in the sporting field to creating visionaries, who act out of deep empathy for their communities.

The 4th edition of the event had around 19 corporate teams and one team from the Vyasarpadi Children’s Empowerment Project battle it out as a mark of support for critical child rights issues. While soccer was the central theme, the event saw both sides of the society working towards a unified goal-to create aspirations for the marginalized children for a better future.

“Over the years we have seen lives of children change holistically around sports. Such events allow us to take the conversation to a larger audience as they share a day of their life with children and understand the barrage of issues they face. Awareness is a great facilitator for change and this event aims to do just that,” said Suma Ravi, Regional Director (South), CRY.