Y-Ultimate Life Skills Program

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 the implementation of 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 one of the many co-curricular activities that gathered momentum in effectively delivering LSE. Studies of US youth who participated in such programs have revealed higher academic performance, greater likelihood of attending college, and greater satisfaction in one’s job, along with 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 in children. Ultimate Frisbee is a non-contact, self-refereed team sport played with a flying disc. It relies upon the Spirit of the Game that places the responsibility of fair play on every player. There are no referees; the players are solely responsible for following and enforcing the rules, even at World Championships. Competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of respect between players, adherence to the rules, and the basic joy of play. Actions such as intentional fouling, cheating, dangerous plays, disrespectful conversations, and other ‘win at all costs’ behaviour are contrary to the Spirit of the Game.

Each game ends with a spirit circle,  which is a reflection circle for children to reflect on their experience, resolve any unresolved conflicts, give feedback and appreciate each other.

Our Playbook(ie Theory of Change) has three interventions: practice, play and coach Ultimate Frisbee. Each intervention has its own 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.