A CSR sports project can end in one of two ways. Either there is a photograph of an inauguration and a court that is unusable within a year, or there is a facility that children are still playing on a decade later. The difference is decided long before construction, in whether the design accounted for how the school actually works.
Through a CSR initiative supported by the ICICI Foundation, Kreedangana Sports Management delivered grassroots sports infrastructure across 15 government schools in Mysore, Chamarajanagar and Chitradurga — cricket wickets, volleyball courts and kabaddi courts serving students across rural Karnataka.
Why grassroots infrastructure is the constraint
Talent is not the scarce resource in rural Karnataka. Surfaces are. A child with genuine ability and no safe, marked, level place to play does not get discovered, because there is nothing to be discovered on. Coaching programmes, tournaments and talent identification all presuppose a playable surface, and that presupposition frequently does not hold.
Building the surface first is not the glamorous part of sports development. It is the part everything else depends on.
What was built
- Cricket wickets — durable, all-weather practice and match surfaces suited to heavy daily use and minimal maintenance capacity.
- Volleyball courts — levelled, marked and equipped, chosen because volleyball needs little equipment per child and delivers high participation.
- Kabaddi courts — a sport with deep local roots, near-zero equipment cost and immediate participation, and one that gives schools a genuine competitive pathway.
Designing for the reality of a government school
Every design decision in this programme was constrained by three facts: there is no dedicated grounds staff, budgets do not include maintenance, and the surfaces would take far heavier daily use than a private school facility.
That pushed the specification firmly towards durability over sophistication. Surfaces chosen for low maintenance rather than peak performance. Materials that survive sun, monsoon and constant use. Layouts that fit the land each school actually had rather than a standard drawing. And sports selected for low per-child equipment cost, because a facility that requires equipment the school cannot replace is a facility with an expiry date.
Working with schools rather than around them
Construction happened around the academic calendar and examination periods. Headteachers and PE staff were involved in siting decisions, because they know where children already gather and where water collects in July. Handover included guidance on basic upkeep that staff could realistically perform without specialist equipment.
What changes when a school gets a proper surface
Participation rises immediately, and it rises most among children who were not previously playing — particularly girls, who are far more likely to participate on a marked, defined court than on undifferentiated open ground. Inter-school competition becomes possible, because a school with a court can host. And PE stops being supervision and becomes teaching.
The partnership view
The initiative's operations lead described the work as playing a crucial role in developing grassroots sports infrastructure across the three districts, empowering young athletes in rural Karnataka with access to quality facilities and nurturing a culture of sport at the grassroots level — and as aligning with a vision of building inclusive and sustainable sports ecosystems.
That word — sustainable — is the whole test. Not what the facility looks like at the inauguration, but whether children are still playing on it in ten years.
Considering a CSR sports project?
The questions worth asking early: who maintains this after handover, what does it cost per child served, which sports maximise participation for the budget, and how will impact be measured beyond a headcount at an opening ceremony?
We work with corporate CSR teams and foundations on grassroots sports infrastructure across Karnataka. Talk to us about a project, or read more about our sports infrastructure services.
