IDSDP: Anantapur Sports Academy (ASA)
Author: Ernest Abhishek Paul Post Dated: 6th April 2021
The goal of Sport for Development (S4D) programmes is to use sport as a tool for development and the development of individuals being the desired outcome. It is essential to empirically test the outcomes to chart out the progress of the programs towards the set goals. Anantapur Sports Academy (ASA), a sport for development initiative based out of Anantapur in Rural India, is using various Monitoring and Evaluation methods to test the efficiency of the program and its impact on the children in rural India.
Established in the year 2000, currently, ASA delivers programmes in the seven sporting disciplines of hockey, football, cricket, judo, tennis, softball and kabaddi, through over 96 grassroots centres, 3 development centres and elite youth programs across the Anantapur district. During the year 2019-20, the program engaged 6,867 (2628 girls, 4239 boys) children and youth. ASA operates the programme through three avenues: Grassroot Program, Development Centres and elite youth programs situated in Anantapur Sports Village (ASV).
Starting right from the grassroots in remote villages, going all the way up to the residential elite youth academy in ASV, the programmes are designed and executed to aid in the holistic development of children and youth, to offer equitable opportunities to both girls and boys and eventually to enhance their employment opportunities. The program further supports the rural ambitious and talented children to succeed at higher levels in sport.
Anantapur Sports Academy has been using various tools to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the program, the first step is ensuring the effective delivery of curriculum by grassroots coaches. The monthly, quarterly, and annual reviews of coaches help track the progress of the program delivery at the grassroots at the same time help solve the issues related to program delivery. At every stage of the program, monthly reviews are regularly conducted to help staff achieve their short-term and long-term goals and work towards realising the vision of the program, which is to leverage the power of sport for the holistic development of underprivileged and marginalised children and youth in rural Anantapur.
The impact of the program is measured both qualitatively and quantitatively by various means. ASA conducts and publishes in-depth case studies of individuals in the program to understand the core social, economic and cultural issues the children face in the society and how the program is aiding them to overcome the problems. Case studies have been effective in qualitatively measuring and communicating the impact of the program on children from marginalized backgrounds in the Anantapur District to our internal and external stakeholders.
Despite the program being run for nearly two decades, ASA strongly believes that the lack of evidence to understand the impact of sports on the holistic development of children proves to be a challenge in redesigning and redeveloping the programs according to the changing demands of the communities. This drive led to a collaboration with Pro Sport Development in 2018 which resulted in conducting a study to determine the impact of organized sports on rural children and youth. This study tried to empirically explore the impact of sports on the physical, emotional and social development of children between 10-15 years in rural India.
The study required the children participating in the ASA grassroots program to answer a questionnaire along with participating in physical tests designed to ascertain the impact. On April 6th, 2019 ASA joined the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) celebrations by publishing the first report titled “Impact of Sport in Rural India” of the data collected, followed by the “Impact of Sport in Rural India 2.0” report in June 2020 on the eve of the International Olympic Day.
ASA believes that the impact study presents the opportunities to work in the areas which need attention and intervention, while the research helps S4D programs including ASA to understand the impact and explore the possibilities to expand the curriculum and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the programs.
Communicating the impact of sport is essential, especially in India where the sport is more or less reduced to just a physical activity. It is important to change the attitudes of communities towards sport. ASA uses Behavioural Change Communication (BCC), and Information Education and Communication (IEC) to educate and influence the attitudes of individuals and communities towards sport. Through various social media platforms, ASA tries to inform and educate audiences about the impact of sport on the well being and holistic development of children, by creating and disseminating communications collaterals that highlight the success stories of the children and statistical facts from research.
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Theory of Change is a technique that helps you to map out and explore how your activities lead to social change, and your underlying beliefs or assumptions. It is a powerful tool for helping to:
Completing all three of the eLearning courses: IMM: Introduction, IMM: Foundation and IMM Builder will also open up ongoing professional development opportunities in IMM with free access to bi-monthly IMM webinars run by inFocus experts.
The 2-hour webinars will provide an opportunity to:
The Tools and Resources for Impact Measurement and Management section of our website is dedicated to providing a comprehensive suite of resources that can be downloaded and put to practical use by our Impact Community.
The resources are all aligned to our IMM courses, particularly the IMM Builder course, which provides step by step guidance on how they can be developed and adapted to your own context, and put firmly into practice.
The Tools and Resources are categorised and cover the following IMM areas:
PLEASE NOTE: This section to our website is coming soon!
inFocus conducts independent, external evaluations to facilitate learning and support accountability.
We have conducted evaluations of high complexity projects, programmes and organisations for delivery agencies, funders, policymakers and networks, both in the Sport for Development and Peace and wider international development sector. We utilise a range of approaches including: Summative; Theory Based; Process; Developmental; Impact; and Participatory.
inFocus executes specific applied research projects on various topics such as Sport for Development, social impact measurement, and strategies for scaling impact. Our findings are designed to be implementable and timely.
Our team is comprised of experienced practitioners who are trained to bridge the gap between traditional research and practical evaluation. We provide a range of different evaluation approaches and methodologies suited to either individual projects or complex funding programmes. We systematically explore and document what is working and highlight areas to for further improvement to help funders explore overall impact strategies.
inFocus helps delivery agencies, funders and networks use their data effectively to report back to stakeholders and utilise data as a tool for development and growth. We work with organisations to do this by giving support in key areas, based upon their identified and priority needs:
InFocus is committed to sharing learning and best-practice within the development and humanitarian sectors.
We regularly run (free to join) public webinars (online workshops) on different topics to share best-practice and generate critical debates between experts and practitioners.
Click on the ‘Impact Community’ section above to find out how to become a member and receive regular updates on our public training.
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inFocus works with philanthropic organisations that provide grants and support to third party organisations delivering programmes or initiatives. Funders include charities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community groups, governmental or inter-governmental agencies and private sector companies. Our consultancy services are specifically designed to address some of the key challenges that funders face, whether that is:
‘A vision without a plan is just a dream. A plan without a vision is just drudgery. But a vision with a plan can change the world.’
Strategy is about asking yourself vital questions concerning What are you trying to achieve? What is the external situation and how can we address it? Are we effective? How can we convince others of this?
inFocus helps organisations to focus on their most critical issues and identify high leverage directions that allow the organisation to renew and reinvent itself, preserving its vitality and its competitive edge.
We’ve worked with non-profits and charities all around the world to scale up, scale out and scale together for more sustainable impact:
InFocus is committed to sharing learning and best-practice within the development and humanitarian sectors.
We regularly run (free to join) public webinars (online workshops) on different topics to share best-practice and generate critical debates between experts and practitioners.
Click on the ‘Impact Community’ section above to find out how to become a member and receive regular updates on our public training.
Over the last 15 years, inFocus has also designed a wide range of different customised training courses for clients around the world. The courses are specifically tailored to the needs of your organisation and attendees in the training, building on the extensive inFocus resources.
Our custom training has covered a range of areas, including inFocus
core areas of expertise in impact measurement and management
(IMM), theory of change and strategic planning. We have also
developed training on more specific topics, such as the launch of new
grant schemes for funders.
Our options for custom training include:
Please feel free to get in touch to discuss your specific requirements for custom trainings.
