Watch: The basketball coach empowering India's youth through the sport

euronews (in English)

Pradyut Voleti is transforming the lives of young people through his non-profit basketball organisation.

Transcript

00:00Basketball is a high-paced game, it's high intensity, you burn a lot of calories in a

00:06short amount of time, so it's really fast.

00:08I think that's very important for these children who have a lot of energy, but no real place

00:13to vent out that energy and their emotions.

00:16Through basketball, they learn valuable life skills.

00:19Basketball teaches you how to face adversity, it teaches you how to get up after losing

00:24a game, that is something which will help these children understand that life is a roller

00:29coaster and for them to be able to get up, fall down, and get up back again and strive

00:34for greatness.

00:35My name is Pradip Vileti, and I teach basketball to underprivileged children.

00:48Dribble Academy is a basketball training program where we aim to provide basketball training

00:52to underprivileged children across the country.

00:54We're a not-for-profit organization, and we have been providing basketball training to

00:58over 3,000 children across nine villages.

01:02Most villages, urban slums, etc., don't have access to basketball courts.

01:07Motivation for me to start Dribble Academy was the safe space for them to come out and

01:12be themselves and really go all out and express themselves.

01:28There are some parents whose children don't have shoes, so they stop them from playing

01:33sports.

01:36The kids here, from the very beginning, they see each other and some of them go out and

01:41have fun, and some of them go out and get high.

01:44But now that he's in the academy, he's not my friend anymore.

01:48Everything has changed.

01:49Hey, come on!

01:50Pass it!

01:55It's a workout.

01:56There's normal stretching and stuff, and there are drills for basketball.

02:00And if we want to work on our standing condition, we go to a workout or run in the morning.

02:10Basketball is a skilled game.

02:12You've got to really perfect the craft before you can make a basket.

02:17It looks easy, but it's really tough.

02:20So children have to put in a lot of time, a lot of effort.

02:23It depends how hard you're working, and that shows on the court.

02:28They learn how to move, how to pass the ball.

02:31They learn how to work in a team.

02:33Discipline.

02:34They learn leadership.

02:353-0!

02:38I wasn't always interested in sports.

02:40As soon as I started playing, I got more interested.

02:45I used to go to school and stay at home.

02:48Some of us kids stay here.

02:50We study here.

02:51We have fun here.

02:52This is the most important thing for poor kids.

02:56If they get an opportunity like this, they'll get to learn something new.

03:00They'll see the world outside.

03:02When I first joined, I played in a couple of tournaments.

03:07I won trophies and stuff.

03:10I was really interested in basketball, and I thought I wanted to play for India.

03:15I thought if I wanted to play for India, I'd have to keep playing basketball.

03:22People like Pradeep sir are very important to our society.

03:26We're still at the same level as Pradeep sir.

03:29Before, we didn't even have a ground.

03:31We didn't know anything about sports.

03:333, 2, 1.

03:36I'll have a lot of people in my life.

03:38My teachers will be at the top.

03:40They're the ones who started teaching us.

03:44We'll reach the top because of them.

03:46They'll mean a lot to us.

03:49As a coach, I have multiple goals.

03:51One of them is to take Dribbble Academy Foundation to 100 villages by 2030.

03:57We're currently in about 9 to 10 villages.

03:59In addition to that, we hope that we play an instrumental part in developing grassroot basketball.

04:06We've had two players who went on to play in the Junior NBA World Championship in Orlando.

04:11And hopefully one day we can develop talent which goes on to play in the NBA.

04:17It's very rewarding to see what just a basketball has been able to do in their lives.

04:22You get to see the transformation of children.

04:25Children who come from difficult backgrounds.

04:27Children who face a lot of challenges at home.

04:30Still continue to come here and work hard.

04:32Despite the circumstances.

04:34I feel that we've been given an opportunity in every village.

04:38Every child has been given an opportunity.

04:40Every child has an interest in sports.

04:43It's been 8 years since I've joined basketball.

04:46My parents were very happy that I'm bringing trophies to such a small village.

04:54I want to see a lot of people like Pradeep sir in every village.

04:58I don't have any words to tell him.

05:00I want to thank him for supporting me so much.

05:09I think if you work hard, there are enough opportunities which are going to open up for you.

05:14There are enough motivational players across the world who've made it through adversity and have made it to the best.

05:19Continue to work hard and don't let those challenges bring you down.

05:23Continue to work hard and don't let those challenges bring you down.

05:28I hope that in the future, children can come together and represent as a team.

05:33And aim for something higher than they could possibly have achieved.

05:38I think we've created a revolution where a large number of children have fallen in love with basketball.

05:53I think we've created a revolution where a large number of children have fallen in love with basketball.

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