I grew up in a town in Haryana. We didn’t have a school. The ordinary classrooms were crowded. Teachers were strict.. We had one thing that I now realize was extraordinary. A big open ground and a sports teacher who genuinely cared.
Every evening that ground was full of noise. Boys and girls running, arguing about rules, celebrating wins sulking after losses and then doing it all over again the next day. We didn’t know it at the time. We were learning things on that ground that no textbook could have taught us. We were learning teamwork, discipline and how to handle wins and losses.
I think about that a lot when I see how little schools today invest in sports. Not in hiring coaches to win trophies. But in the real everyday let-the-children-play way. Sports is not about winning or losing; it’s about learning life skills.
What Happens to a Child on a Sports Field
There is a moment in every game. Football, kabaddi, athletics. Where something goes wrong. A pass is missed. A race is lost by a second. A team that was winning starts losing and can’t figure out why. What a child does in that moment is more revealing than anything they will ever write in an exam. Do they blame someone ? Do they shut down? Do they adjust, try to keep going?
A school that takes sports seriously teaches children to handle that moment.Not by giving them speeches. But by putting them in that situation again and again until they figure it out themselves.
That is the way it actually sticks.
The best CBSE school in Narnaul understands this. Sports are not a break from school. It is a part of what school is supposed to do. They make sure children learn from their mistakes and become players.
Haryana Has Always Known This
Haryana does not need to be convinced that sports matter. This state has produced some of India’s athletes. Wrestlers, boxers, kabaddi players and Olympic medal winners who grew up in small towns and villages with nothing but determination and a patch of open ground.
- What made them? Partly talent, yes. Mostly culture.
- A culture where physical training was taken seriously.
- Where a boy or girl who was good at wrestling was respected as much as one who topped the class.
That culture still exists in Haryana.. In many schools it is getting squeezed out by the pressure to perform academically. More tuition, test prep less time on the ground.. The children are paying for it. Not just physically, but emotionally.
The Child Who Plays Is Different
I am not talking about athletes. I am talking about the child who plays cricket after school, runs in the annual athletics meet or joins the school kabaddi team without any hope of a national medal.
- That child, over years of playing, develops something powerful.
- They become comfortable in their body.
- They know how to read a situation in sport you have about half a second to decide and that habit of fast calm decision-making does not stay on the field.
They also learn to be part of something other than themselves. A team does not care about your marks or your family background. It cares about whether you show up, whether you try and whether you have the person’s back.
What Parents Should Actually Ask Schools
When parents visit a school most of them ask about results, faculty and fees. Few ask about sports. And of those who do most accept an answer. “Yes we have a sports period”. Without digging deeper.
- Ask questions. Does the school have a ground or just a concrete courtyard?
- Are there coaches or just a PE teacher who doubles as a supervisor?
- Does the school participate in -school competitions?
At the best school in Narnaul, sports are treated as a real part of a child’s development. Not a filler period between subjects. That difference in attitude shows up in the children who come out of it.
The Quiet Confidence of a Child Who Plays
There is something you notice about children who have grown up playing sports. It is not aggression or loudness. It is a settled confidence.
- They are comfortable losing without drama.
- They are comfortable winning without arrogance.
- They know how to work for something and they know what it feels like when that work pays off.
That kind of confidence cannot be taught in a classroom. It has to be experienced. And a school that gives children the space, the time and the encouragement to play. Play, not just tick a box. Is giving them something that will outlast every exam result they ever get.
It Does Not Have to Be a Big Deal
is what I want to say to parents who are still not convinced. You do not need your child to become an athlete. You do not need them to win medals or represent the state or make sports their career.
You just need them to play. Regularly freely with children, in a school that sees the value in it.That is enough. That ordinary everyday thing. A child running on a school ground after class. It is one of the best things you can give them.
Choose a school that knows that. A school that values sports and play. A school that helps children develop life skills through sports. That’s what matters.
