Through The Power Of Sports Changing Lives - Isha Outreach

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Thanikaivel
Chennai, TAMIL NADU
Thanikaivel grew up playing
basketball in the slums of
Chennai. After finishing
school, he learnt boxing. Looking
around, Thanikaivel saw many kids
who were living below the poverty
line without much hope in life. Many
had dropped out of school, and the
temptations for such children to go
astray or take to crime were high.
Thanikaivel decided to give back to
his community, and, upon joining
a foundation, he had the backing
to form an academy for boxing,
athletics and football.
The academy today has professional
coaches and physiotherapists
shaping the sports talents of many
of Chennai’s poorest children.
Twelve-year old Ramesh Kumar
has won the state sub-junior Gold
medal in boxing; 14-year old Mohan
Raj’s family now supports his dream
of becoming a top athlete; school
dropout Prem Kumar has rejoined
school to fulfill the basic condition
of learning football at the academy.
Others like Kalpana, S. Prakash
and Nityanand aspire to don India
colours one day. Thanikaivel knows
he has a long way to go, but his
dream is coming true.
“When I saw kids like me
growing up in slums, it struck
me that through football
coaching I could try and stop
them from going astray.”
Thanikaivel