Hi 5 is one of the largest grassroots programs in the world. Participation in tournaments is a “mega event” every time in Hi5. People often wonder how difficult it really is to participate in a tournament. Although most schools in the country do it effortlessly.

“The simple and astonishing truth about India and Indian people is that when you go there, and deal with them, your heart always guides you more wisely than your head. There's nowhere else in the world where that's quite so true.” I read that passage from Shantaram two months into volunteering with Hi 5 Youth Foundation in Mumbai. Few things I’ve read have ever rang more true.

With the COVID-19 outbreak, India’s coordinated action is being effectively implemented at the Central, State and Village Panchayat levels. At Hi 5, our team is spread all over the country, as many have returned to their hometowns due to the national lockdown.

Welcome to Hi5 Youth Foundation! We’re incredibly happy to know that you want to know more about our NGO. Here’s a note from one of our co-founders, R Sundar, that throws light on the why Hi5 Youth Foundation was started, its philosophy and the future

Basketball teaches one how to be a team player— it is a social sport. We know that there is a relatively large population of India that does not have access to resources that allows them to play basketball when they please.

Now that you’ve read about our founding story, let me tell you more about our decision to bring basketball coaching to India. When we reflected on which social sector we wanted to grow our efforts in we primarily thought of exploring the ‘education’ space. But, soon, we learnt that there are quite a few NGOs already making huge impact

The Hope Thru Hoops program is a four year, multi-level, and high-quality program. It creates an opportunity for the kids to learn basketball through professional coaching that follows our in-house curriculum. And this curriculum is quite integral to how Hi5 runs because through this program, we hope to produce India’s next generation of elite basketball players!

At Hi5, we want to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children through the game of basketball, where sports is not the medium but the platform for them to develop improved life-skills, better their performance, and build aspirations to do well in their future. We have learnt a lot from our time in the US, seeing our sons grow up and play basketball

At Hi5, we give both boys and girls equal opportunity to grow and learn. We stress on keeping teams on a 50:50 ratio (it’s hard to maintain that balance because of girls dropping out sooner) and we’re trying different ways of maintaining this ratio. This philosophy largely comes from our exposure to how sports is played in the West. There, at least up to middle-school level, you’ll observe that sports is gender neutral.

The earnestness to excel at basketball is one of our philosophies. Our goal is to give our 100% to make sure that our students achieve greatness not only in life but also in basketball. We believe that unless the fire to excel at something is ignited, the seriousness to reach that goal cannot be experienced.