The Ultimate Summer Camp

In 1997, WHO provided guidelines on Life Skills Education (LSE) for children and adolescents. They describe Life Skills as psychosocial competence. “Psychosocial Competence is defined as a person’s ability to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life”

Many countries including India are considering life skills development as a response to problems such as violence,student dropouts, excessive increase in drug abuse, etc. There have been many LSE initiatives in India by the National curriculum framework (NCF), Adolescent Education Program (AEP), and National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE) to name a few. Despite these initiatives, there have been many challenges in implementing LSE in schools. 

Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) has observed that many schools have often confused LSE with vocational education. This indicates a lack of awareness among teachers of the importance of LSE. A study in 2012 reported that most schools and parents are not interested in LSE as it has no value attached to it. A study in 2015 showed that LSE is taught more like an intellectual exercise, the end result is that the learners have an intellectual understanding of LSE. Despite various initiatives, schools are yet to implement LSE functionally.

Sport-based life skills programs are among many ways to deliver LSE effectively. Studies of US youth who participated in such programs have revealed higher academic performance, greater likelihood of attending college and a job, and higher levels of emotional regulation, problem-solving, teamwork and goal attainment.

At Y-Ultimate, we use the sport of Ultimate Frisbee to impart Life Skills Education to children. Ultimate Frisbee is a non-contact, self-refereed team sport played with a flying disc. 

The Ultimate Summer Camp is a 4-week short-term program developed by us to reach new beneficiaries, partner with more organisations, spread our program to newer geographies in Delhi and induct our next set of youth coaches. The program aims to cater up to 1000 children from all across Delhi-NCR in collaboration with other organisations. We are currently at 600 children through 13 partner organisations in 16 different locations. Children in these communities will be introduced to the sport of Ultimate Frisbee, how the sport is played, the game's essential rules and the conflict resolution structure. The program will end with children from one campsite getting to play with another set of children.

Our Playbook(ie Theory of Change) has three interventions: practice, play and coach Ultimate Frisbee. Each intervention has its symptoms of change that lead to an impact loop when continued over a period of time. 

Practice Ultimate: 

Practising leads to improvement in physical well-being and exposure to new habits and values, nudging the players to start investing in self-development. 

Play Ultimate: 

Playing competitively expands social networks. Winning reinforces discipline and perseverance. Losing teaches humility and builds a desire to work harder. Overall, children begin to develop a commitment towards meaningful goals on and off the field. After gaining a certain level of competency, players start coaching Ultimate Frisbee in other communities.

Coach Ultimate: 

Coaching helps them to develop empathy and effective communication skills while honing their technical game skills. The players also earn income to sustain aspirations. This pay-it-forward model brings in more beneficiaries and creates a sustainable multiplier effect on impact.

The Ultimate Summer Camp is an opportunity for children to Practice Ultimate. Students are exposed to new values and habits that lead to their self-development. During the sessions, children will be trained on 

• Communicating respectfully
• Regulating themselves 
• Cultivate a mindset of gender equality
• Improve overall health and well-being