For underprivileged youth, Hi 5’s “Hope through Hoops” has become a life changer sport. Basketball in India once offered only in private and elite schools, today with Hi 5’s entry into the game in India, it has become one more fast paced high end sport for the underprivileged.

Moreover, do you know how many professional teams the NBA currently have? 30 teams I guess. I would request you to pause for a minute and do the math – how many teams do you think an organization like Hi 5 Youth Foundation would have?

We train children in over 20 centres and schools across the country in 3 different states. Most of the children at school level are categorised as Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16 for tournaments. Hi 5 caters to both; girls and boys in all schools and each centre has a different school.

• 1. Name of the player/student
• 2. School
• 3. Most importantly their age

In a recent SFA tournament, 25 teams participated which makes it close to 300 children in total. In spite of the fact that one needs to scan such a large number of children, we use a strict 4 step verification process to ensure it is done appropriately. Most tournaments ask for 3 different types of identification proofs to verify the player’s identity at the venue. This includes the birth certificate, the aadhar card (national ID), school ID, etc.

We have laid out our systems and processes as efficiently as we could. We have documented systematic profiles of all children in our database (collected when they first joined Hi 5). The children in each team are filtered as per tournament guidelines. The first set of identification proofs that the children submit at Hi 5 are safely documented and locked in our system. The date of birth being the most important aspect here.

I am also excited to share with you all that Hi 5 children are trained so well that sometimes 2 of our own teams end up playing against each other in semi-finals and finals. Hi 5 children have regularly finished in the top 3 positions in these tournaments. Since 2018, Hi 5 teams have topped most of the tournaments in the city. Many other players and their coaches from sports and international schools have accepted the fact that they can be beaten by municipal school children – which was pretty much never the case before.

In India, basketball has always been an elite sport and the underprivileged society members were never given the opportunity to enter and play a sport like this before.

Hi 5’s basketball program also has an extensive network of interschool, invitational, outstation tournaments which provides student-athletes with exposure unlike anywhere else. During pre-season or in rigorous Hi 5’s summer camps, children-athletes undergo evaluation to determine their current level as well as their strengths and areas in need of development. Hi 5 places a significant emphasis on strength and conditioning during camps, before progressing towards game preparation and team strategies during the season. Throughout the year, coaches place an emphasis on individual skill development, small group training, and team workouts, practice matches and instruction.

Hi 5 children play with the ultimate “do or die” attitude when it comes to winning in a game. Life has not been easy for them and they have survived so long only with basic necessities, but on the field, they are more than equal to many players. They now strongly believe that sports brings in equal opportunities for all.