Sports for change

Sports has the power to transform lives beyond the playing field. For differently abled individuals, it can support physical rehabilitation, mental wellbeing, confidence, social inclusion and the development of sporting potential. However, many athletes lack access to appropriate infrastructure, specialised coaching, rehabilitation, equipment and competitive opportunities, creating a gap between potential and performance.

Through Sports for Change, Sahyog Care For You is working to address this gap through an integrated approach that reaches differently abled individuals in communities as well as differently abled personnel from the armed forces. At the community level, Sahyog is creating opportunities for differently abled individuals to access sports, receive structured training and develop their physical and sporting abilities, while identifying potential talent that can progress towards competitive participation. Within the armed forces, this approach is taken further through a dedicated high-performance programme for differently abled paramilitary personnel injured during service, implemented with the CRPF at the National Centre for Divyang Empowerment (NCDE), Rangareddy, Telangana. The programme covers personnel from CRPF, BSF, ITBP, CISF, SSB, AR and NSG, with specialised training in Para Archery and Para Shooting.

The programme works across the complete sporting journey—from access and rehabilitation to structured training, talent development and competitive excellence. This includes sports equipment and infrastructure, professional and junior coaches, physiotherapy, customised fitness and conditioning, nutrition support, performance assessments, individual improvement plans, technical training, trial competitions and exposure to State and National-level tournaments. For armed forces personnel, the long-term ambition is to develop elite Para-athletes capable of progressing towards international competition and the Paralympic pathway. By strengthening opportunities at the community level while creating a high-performance pathway for injured service personnel, Sports for Change aims to build a more inclusive and sustainable Para-sports ecosystem, where disability does not limit an individual's opportunity to participate, compete and excel.