Pradyut Voleti is transforming the lives of young people through his non-profit basketball organisation.
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00:00Basketball is a high-paced game, it's high intensity, you burn a lot of calories in a
00:06short amount of time, so it's really fast.
00:08I think that's very important for these children who have a lot of energy, but no real place
00:13to vent out that energy and their emotions.
00:16Through basketball, they learn valuable life skills.
00:19Basketball teaches you how to face adversity, it teaches you how to get up after losing
00:24a game, that is something which will help these children understand that life is a roller
00:29coaster and for them to be able to get up, fall down, and get up back again and strive
00:34for greatness.
00:35My name is Pradip Vileti, and I teach basketball to underprivileged children.
00:48Dribble Academy is a basketball training program where we aim to provide basketball training
00:52to underprivileged children across the country.
00:54We're a not-for-profit organization, and we have been providing basketball training to
00:58over 3,000 children across nine villages.
01:02Most villages, urban slums, etc., don't have access to basketball courts.
01:07Motivation for me to start Dribble Academy was the safe space for them to come out and
01:12be themselves and really go all out and express themselves.
01:28There are some parents whose children don't have shoes, so they stop them from playing
01:33sports.
01:36The kids here, from the very beginning, they see each other and some of them go out and
01:41have fun, and some of them go out and get high.
01:44But now that he's in the academy, he's not my friend anymore.
01:48Everything has changed.
01:49Hey, come on!
01:50Pass it!
01:55It's a workout.
01:56There's normal stretching and stuff, and there are drills for basketball.
02:00And if we want to work on our standing condition, we go to a workout or run in the morning.
02:10Basketball is a skilled game.
02:12You've got to really perfect the craft before you can make a basket.
02:17It looks easy, but it's really tough.
02:20So children have to put in a lot of time, a lot of effort.
02:23It depends how hard you're working, and that shows on the court.
02:28They learn how to move, how to pass the ball.
02:31They learn how to work in a team.
02:33Discipline.
02:34They learn leadership.
02:353-0!
02:38I wasn't always interested in sports.
02:40As soon as I started playing, I got more interested.
02:45I used to go to school and stay at home.
02:48Some of us kids stay here.
02:50We study here.
02:51We have fun here.
02:52This is the most important thing for poor kids.
02:56If they get an opportunity like this, they'll get to learn something new.
03:00They'll see the world outside.
03:02When I first joined, I played in a couple of tournaments.
03:07I won trophies and stuff.
03:10I was really interested in basketball, and I thought I wanted to play for India.
03:15I thought if I wanted to play for India, I'd have to keep playing basketball.
03:22People like Pradeep sir are very important to our society.
03:26We're still at the same level as Pradeep sir.
03:29Before, we didn't even have a ground.
03:31We didn't know anything about sports.
03:333, 2, 1.
03:36I'll have a lot of people in my life.
03:38My teachers will be at the top.
03:40They're the ones who started teaching us.
03:44We'll reach the top because of them.
03:46They'll mean a lot to us.
03:49As a coach, I have multiple goals.
03:51One of them is to take Dribbble Academy Foundation to 100 villages by 2030.
03:57We're currently in about 9 to 10 villages.
03:59In addition to that, we hope that we play an instrumental part in developing grassroot basketball.
04:06We've had two players who went on to play in the Junior NBA World Championship in Orlando.
04:11And hopefully one day we can develop talent which goes on to play in the NBA.
04:17It's very rewarding to see what just a basketball has been able to do in their lives.
04:22You get to see the transformation of children.
04:25Children who come from difficult backgrounds.
04:27Children who face a lot of challenges at home.
04:30Still continue to come here and work hard.
04:32Despite the circumstances.
04:34I feel that we've been given an opportunity in every village.
04:38Every child has been given an opportunity.
04:40Every child has an interest in sports.
04:43It's been 8 years since I've joined basketball.
04:46My parents were very happy that I'm bringing trophies to such a small village.
04:54I want to see a lot of people like Pradeep sir in every village.
04:58I don't have any words to tell him.
05:00I want to thank him for supporting me so much.
05:09I think if you work hard, there are enough opportunities which are going to open up for you.
05:14There are enough motivational players across the world who've made it through adversity and have made it to the best.
05:19Continue to work hard and don't let those challenges bring you down.
05:23Continue to work hard and don't let those challenges bring you down.
05:28I hope that in the future, children can come together and represent as a team.
05:33And aim for something higher than they could possibly have achieved.
05:38I think we've created a revolution where a large number of children have fallen in love with basketball.
05:53I think we've created a revolution where a large number of children have fallen in love with basketball.