She fought hard against any discriminatory behaviors or bullying amongst her fellow players.

However over a period of time, with her game skills, her confidence and social skills grew. Anita started taking an active interest in her team; she started taking ownership for not just hers but her teams performance as a whole. She recognised the power of voice and started participating in conversations and discussions. She became more aware of herself and her environment.

Anita would not ignore the contrast in gender dynamics on the field, where boys and girls were equal participants, and off the field in her community and family that had shaped her behaviour. She became a vocalm revolutionary for safeguarding equal rights on the game field and not letting the norms of the society creep in. She fought hard against any discriminatory behaviors or bullying amongst her fellow players. Responding to her determination, hard work, and attitude both on and off the field, Anita was elected by the team as their captain. In her first tournament as captain, she led her team to the spirit medal – the most prestigious award in Ultimate Frisbee. Beyond Ultimate, she has successfully completed her senior secondary education, a first in her family for girls. Anita is now in her 2nd year of college, at Delhi University, studying political science. She wants to affect policy changes so that women like her sisters will get the option of working towards their aspirations rather than getting married and bearing children at a young age.

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Nilay, one of our many peer-leader coaches, made a trip to Singngat. Our objective was to introduce Ultimate as part of the educational curriculum set by Sunbird. Nilay spent two weeks introducing Ultimate in 3 schools. He also identified and mentored a peer leader, Boigin Haokip, who would continue to lead practice sessions. In a short span of time, children were so gripped by the sport that despite a lack of proper gear, they were not willing to miss out on practice sessions. This was also followed by a lot of stories of good spirit and exemplary behaviour on the field influenced by the ethos of the sport. After 2.5 months, we went back to Singngat and organized a tournament kicking off the second phase of interventions. The tournament was a success. The village chief, impressed by the development, pledged more support to use Ultimate as a development platform.

The work continues, most recently Boigin travelled to Delhi and spent 2 weeks, getting first hand training in coaching in communities along with our very own youth coaches. On Boigin’s return, he started training at a 4th school; today there are over 80 children actively participating in the program. Similar to Nilay story with Sunbird trust in Singngat in Manipur, our 16 other peer leaders have partnered with 25 different NGO’s/Schools/Communities multiplying our reach to over 1200 children across India.

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With Ultimate Frisbee, he found a new purpose and platform. He wanted to excel in every aspect of the sport and did not shy away from putting in the effort from the start. He worked tirelessly to master skills on the field. He realized how tobacco would hamper his growth in the sport and was able to get rid of the habit altogether. However, not all behaviors changed as easily.

Today Laxman is known as one of the most spirited players on the field. He regularly wins the “Most Spirited Player” award in tournaments.

Laxman displayed aggression on the field and showed a lack of empathy when dealing with opponents as well as fellow teammates who weren’t as good as him.Ultimate as with all team sports and it requires collaboration and teamwork to win. While it took time, continuously playing competitive tournaments helped him realised this. His achievements were not as sweet as when they were just his alone. With feedback from his teammates, he was able to understand that he had anger management issues and he reached out to the team for help . Everyone came together to support him in this journey of his. 

Today Laxman is known as one of the most spirited players on the field. He regularly wins the “Most Spirited Player” award in tournaments. He has also found purpose off the field and inspired by the ethos of the sport, wants to become a lawyer to fight for all those people who are unable to get justice. He is working hard towards his law entrance examination.

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