In the Mahakaushal region of Madhya Pradesh, an education revolution is taking place. Since the advent of Riverside Natural School, its children have taken to education with a newfound vigour. An initiative of Mrida Educational and Welfare Society (MEWS), Riverside is named so as the river Narmada flows nearby. The school was formed when MEWS founder, Priya Nadkarni, realised that imparting of vocational skills in adulthood doesn’t necessarily translate to increase in confidence. The key, she realised, lies in starting training during childhood itself.

Her school has an innovative approach to education. The school’s infrastructure, for starters, includes a library, a computer laboratory, a tinkering lab and an outdoor playground and more. Its rural innovations lab and STEAM lab, moreover, emphasise the value of practical education. At Riverside, it’s not unusual for a fourth or fifth-grader to develop a vacuum cleaner or an air cooler, or enjoy scratch programming and robotics.

The school’s biggest success, though, comes from its focus on sports. Riverside began by imparting football coaching to its students, under the guidance of grass-root coaches. However, the school soon recognised a need for a competitive outlet, as daily practice could only go so far in instilling confidence among the kids. Thus was born Riverside Leagues.

In addition to imparting daily football coaching to students of local government schools, Riverside Leagues provides them with football gear and logistics support for outstation tournaments. It also organises monthly tournaments of its own to provide its players crucial practice. The league is growing by leaps and bounds and, recently, also awarded football scholarship to 30 promising players, who now enjoy hostel accommodation, schooling and food services at the Riverside school. One of the most significant achievements of the league, though, is the participation of girls, who now make up 75 players of its 200+ strength. Indeed, in a short span of time, Riverside Leagues has succeeded in heralding a footballing culture in tribal Madhya Pradesh. And it has big plans for the future.

Among Riverside Leagues’ ambitious aims is to catapult rural sportspersons to the professional league, and it’s well on its way. At least 24 of its players have been selected for the divisionals and the district-level tournaments, and some have even been tapped for the Chief Minister’s Cup. Niranjana Parte from Mohgaon village is one such promising player. The video below shows how Riverside Natural School is changing children’s lives in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh, through Niranjana’s eyes.

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Recognising the potential of MEWS’ vision, Myntra decided to lend a hand to Priya Nadkarni and team. It tied up with Adidas to support them with footballs for each player enrolled in the Riverside Leagues, thus taking care of a significant component of the programme expenditure. With Myntra’s contribution to the Riverside Leagues, the league is a step closer to realising its mission.

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This article was produced by the Scroll marketing team on behalf of Myntra and not by the Scroll editorial team.