Power of play: Top sports that children can enjoy at projects around the world

Do you remember the joy of parachute games at school or a youth club? Or how fun it was when a teacher got you using craft materials in a maths lesson? When learning is playful, we remember those lessons. Creating safe and supportive spaces for play can ignite friendships, develop skills and provide opportunities to grow as a whole person.

Ask any child who attends a Compassion project, and they’ll tell you that one of their favourite things about going along to their local church is playing with their friends. Play and sport aren’t just ways to pass the time, they’re an integral part of our approach which aims to help each child to flourish in every area of their life.

Sport allows children to learn endurance, courage, confidence, curiosity, self-esteem and social skills, such as cooperation and leadership.

Sport is also universally valued — children in every country find joy in pushing themselves to get a little better and celebrating their accomplishments!

Here are some of the sports children at Compassion projects get to try:

Basketball

Bedarlin and students in Dominican Republic

Basketball may have started in the United States, but its popularity continues to grow all around the world! It’s been a sport at the Summer Olympic Games since 1936. Over 100 countries have national leagues for both men and women.

For Compassion participant Bedarlin in the Dominican Republic, basketball is just one of the sports she learned to play at her Compassion project. Her love of team sports helped motivate her studies and taught her perseverance and goal setting.

Bedarlin’s tutors at her Compassion project recognized her gifts in both athletics and inspiring others. They helped her pursue sports scholarships to continue her studies. Today, Bedarlin hopes to become a PE teacher so she can pass her passion on to others!

Wrestling

Augustin and his friends love wrestling

Wrestling is an ancient activity and one of the oldest combat sports around. Ancient Greek and Egyptian wrestlers used positions and holds that are still used today.

Augustin is an eight-year-old boy in Burkina Faso. Since toys and sports equipment are luxuries in his region, he and his friends engage in games requiring little or no equipment. Augustin says, “Wrestling is exciting but hard because you must be strong. And I want to be the strongest!”

Nestor, the Compassion Director in Augustin’s community, says “Wrestling is neither a fight nor a conflict. Wrestling is a game that allows children to know and respect each other. While wrestling builds up children physically, it teaches them values like self-control, care for others, love and humility to face life’s challenges.”

Water Sports

Johanes from Indonesia has a passion for swimming

Whether it is diving, swimming, water polo, or just playing in the water, swimming is a hugely popular activity. Wherever water is accessible, people find ways to enjoy it!

Johanes lives in Indonesia, with five siblings. Without the means to attend school, Johanes’s parents enrolled him at the local Compassion project. As a very active boy, he loved all the activities offered and thrived under the encouragement of his teachers and tutors.

When Johanes was taught to swim, he soon discovered a passion for the sport. He won regional competitions and even was sent to qualifying competitions for the Olympics because he showed so much potential. He’s now pursuing education in sports science, which is funded both by support from Compassion and through teaching swimming at a local pool.

Johanes’s focus is now on coaching, and he plans to open a swimming school in the future. “To see a child’s potential shine through — that’s my joy,” he says.

Floorball

Bassiratou went on to play for her national team

Floorball might be unfamiliar in the UK, but nearly 80 countries have national leagues. Floorball is a variant of hockey, played with whiffle balls and field hockey sticks.

Bassiratou knows firsthand how sport changes lives! Her early childhood in Côte d’Ivoire was filled with difficulties. She was orphaned at the age of six and went to live with her aunt in Burkina Faso. There, Bassiratou was registered at her local Compassion project, enabling her to attend school for the first time and to participate in sports.

“I’ve learned a lot at the project,” she says. “I met Jesus, and my life has been turned around. It is at the project that I learned to sing, to play games and practice sports, to compete with other children and become a winner. I started playing floorball and I found it so fun.”

Bassiratou went on to play for the national team at the African Cup of Floorball 2019. Succeeding in sport has given Bassiratou confidence to succeed in other areas of her life. Now studying at university, she plans to start a youth floorball team and inspire the next generation!

Table Tennis

In El Salvador, children love to play table tennis

An estimated 300 million people worldwide play table tennis; it’s the most popular racket sport in the world. It is recognized to improve hand-eye coordination and long-term memory. But for most people, it’s simply a lot of fun!

In El Salvador, table tennis is popular in schools and at Compassion projects! Walter was first introduced to the sport when enrolled at his local church.

Walter says, “Two years ago, I was getting lost in the streets, failing school, and being influenced by other children who were part of gangs. I was trying out smoking and drinking alcohol with them. But even when I was a rebel, even when I felt that everybody was angry with me, table tennis and the love and support of my tutor Aracely brought me back to the right path.”

In a region of El Salvador where gang violence is an everyday threat, sports can be a powerful alternative and way to build connections and confidence.

“Since I started to practice table tennis, I decided to leave bad influences and invest more time in the sport. Also, at the table tennis club, I began to have a deeper connection with the gospel and that’s helping my attitude to be more obedient to the Bible,” Walter says. “It’s good to be part of this club.”

Weightlifting

Nicole is training to compete in the regional weightlifting championship

The art of lifting heavy weights competitively has been around for centuries, however, it’s still not considered particularly ‘mainstream’. In a remote village in El Salvador, 18-year-old Nicole lives with her single mother and two older brothers. Breaking many barriers, she is training to compete in the regional weightlifting championship. 

 “It was the final year of school when my cousin and I started training in weightlifting,” she says. “We were the only girls.” She found it disheartening to have so many friends, teachers and even her mother saying, “that’s a sport for men, not girls… I know she only wanted to protect me.”  

With the right support, thanks to her local Compassion project, she’s been able to develop her talent safely. After she shared about her passion with her tutor, the project staff helped her gain access to proper equipment, coaching, funding and even a nutritionist.  

“I’m very proud of what I have achieved to date,” she says. “The discipline has shaped me in many ways; my self-confidence has grown.” Her ambitions have grown beyond her sporting success. She says, “I dream that God will help me complete my studies so I can have a career in Chemistry.”

Football

Seph now plays for a professional football team

No list of international sport would be complete without football! There are an estimated four billion fans of this sport.

A great many children and young people dream of a professional career, which is only possible for a very few to achieve. One person who’s showing the extraordinary talent and determination to succeed is 18-year-old Seph who now plays for a professional team in Kigali, Rwanda.

Seph was sponsored by Compassion, where he got to play football recreationally – and over time his incredible skill began to shine. He’s now able to support his whole family, and is an inspiration to all young people who face the immense barriers that poverty places in their way.

Every day we see how children thrive when given the opportunity to play and learn in a supportive environment filled with opportunities and choices. When you sponsor a child with Compassion, you help provide them with the resources and they relationships they need to move towards a brighter future.