Sport has the potential to contribute to development far beyond the playing field. It can support health, education, gender equality, inclusion, employability and stronger communities.
This study examined the contribution of sports participation to selected Sustainable Development Goals within the HCL Foundation Sport for Change initiative. It compared students with regular participation in sports activities to those with low or no recent participation.
The study involved a cohort of 120 middle- and high-school students from programme schools in Lucknow and Noida. Active participants were defined as students who engaged in the Sport for Change programme at least once a week, while inactive participants had not participated for consecutive weeks.
The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognises the growing contribution of sport towards development and peace.
Sport can help create progress across many of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly:
This study focused specifically on three areas:
HCL Foundation’s Sport for Change initiative works to increase access and participation in sport at the grassroots level.
The programme channels the energy of young people from underserved communities towards play and sports, based on the belief that sport is not only an end in itself, but also a means to achieve wider development outcomes.
Over the years, the initiative has trained more than 6,500 students in athletics, karate, chess, carrom, badminton, volleyball, football, kabaddi and cricket. Students have gone on to represent their schools and communities at district, state and national-level tournaments.
Sportz Village Foundation partnered with HCL Foundation as an implementation agency to identify, train and nurture sports talent, while making physical education and sporting opportunities accessible to children and youth in Noida and Lucknow.
The study used separate assessment methods to evaluate the relationship between sports participation and the three selected Sustainable Development Goals.
Fitness was assessed using a Fitness Quotient, which combines six fitness parameters:
Academic performance was reviewed through marks in Mathematics, Science and Social Studies, along with school attendance over a 30-day period.
The study used a Social-Emotional Learning assessment to understand how sports participation influenced girls’ confidence, independence and interpersonal skills.
The assessment measured:
Each skill was assessed on a five-point scale, ranging from requiring considerable support to performing independently.
Students with active participation in sports recorded higher Fitness Quotient scores than inactive students in both locations.
In Lucknow, active students recorded an average Fitness Quotient of 0.88, compared with 0.85 among inactive students. The study reported this as a 3.5% difference.
In Noida, active students recorded an average Fitness Quotient of 1.20, compared with 1.16 among inactive students, representing a reported 3.4% difference.
The findings indicate a positive relationship between regular sports participation and improved fitness levels.
The study found that students who participated actively in sports showed higher academic scores than inactive students.
Among the Lucknow cohort, active students recorded:
This represented reported improvements of:
Among the Noida cohort, active students recorded:
This represented reported differences of:
Active sports participation was also associated with higher school attendance in both locations.
The findings suggest that regular participation in sport can support stronger engagement with school.
The study found that girls who actively participated in sports demonstrated higher socio-emotional learning scores across the measured areas.
Active girls scored higher than inactive girls in:
Active girls also recorded stronger scores in Noida:
These findings suggest that sport can help girls build confidence, communication, problem-solving ability and the willingness to take initiative.
The study notes that the findings should be read with some limitations in mind.
The participant group was relatively small and used a binary comparison between active and inactive students. Future studies can build on this work by including larger and more diverse groups, clearer measures of participation levels and comparisons across different age groups.
Sport has the potential to influence development outcomes beyond fitness and competition.This study highlights how regular participation in sport can support better physical wellbeing, stronger school engagement, improved academic performance and higher social-emotional learning outcomes among girls.
It reinforces the role of structured sport as a meaningful tool for advancing health, education and gender equality in underserved communities.
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