PN
✦ OUR WINGS
“
Plz share with us how you have walked the tougher path with your young athlete.
AN OPEN LETTER · FROM INDIA'S STUDENT-ATHLETES
TO THE PARENTSWHO WORRY.
And to us — who don't always know how to reassure you.
Our parents love us. That's never been the question. The question is whether sport and studies can sit side by side — and whether we, as student-athletes, can show you they can. This page is our honest attempt at that.
I'm 16. I play goalkeeper. I'm in Grade 11 doing A-Levels. And every week, in some house in Mumbai, a conversation like this is happening:
"Sport is fine, beta — but studies first. There's no future in sport in India."
We hear you. And honestly — you're not wrong to be scared. The path in India isn't clear. There's no guaranteed scholarship, no obvious career, no roadmap that says "do this and you'll be okay."
But here's what we want you to see: sport isn't pulling us away from a future. It's quietly building one.
WHAT SPORT IS QUIETLY BUILDING IN US
THE THINGS YOU
CAN'T SEE ON A REPORT CARD.
DISCIPLINE YOU DIDN'T TEACH US.
Waking at 5am without being asked. Finishing homework after a 90-minute session. That's not a phase. That's character forming in real time.
RESILIENCE NO TUITION CAN GIVE.
We lose. We come back. We try again. Every match is a rehearsal for every job interview, every rejection, every hard day we'll have as adults.
THE PRESSURE-HANDLING YOU WANT US TO HAVE.
You worry about board exams. We've already taken penalty kicks with the score tied. We know what pressure feels like — and how to keep breathing through it.
A MENTAL HEALTH RELEASE VALVE.
You see us tired. We see ourselves not breaking. Sport is the one thing keeping a lot of us from burning out. Taking it away doesn't help — it hurts.
We're not asking you to bet the house on a sports career.
We're asking you to stop making us choose. To stop seeing every training session as time stolen from a textbook. To trust that the kid who can balance both is the kid who'll handle the rest of life better, too.
Look at the people you admire — CEOs, founders, doctors, leaders. Most of them played a sport. It's not a coincidence. Sport doesn't compete with a great future. It's part of how great futures get built.
We don't need you to become coaches. We need you to stop being the voice that says "pick one."
DON'T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT
TALK TO SOMEONE
WHO'S LIVED IT.
We're building a network of professionals — people who played sport seriously and went on to build real careers in finance, medicine, tech, design, sport, everything. Many have offered to do live sessions with parents.
We love you. We're not going to waste this. Just back us — both sides of us.
— RUDRANSH, & EVERY STUDENT-ATHLETE BEHIND THIS
✦ OUR WINGS
PARENTS WHO
SUPPORT US.
To the parents breaking the norm — driving at dawn, sitting through losses, refusing to make us choose. You are why we fly.
PN
✦ OUR WINGS
“
Plz share with us how you have walked the tougher path with your young athlete.
PN
✦ OUR WINGS
“
Plz share with us how you have walked the tougher path with your young athlete.
PN
✦ OUR WINGS
“
Plz share with us how you have walked the tougher path with your young athlete.
PN
✦ OUR WINGS
“
Plz share with us how you have walked the tougher path with your young athlete.
PN
✦ OUR WINGS
“
Plz share with us how you have walked the tougher path with your young athlete.
PN
✦ OUR WINGS
“
Plz share with us how you have walked the tougher path with your young athlete.
PN
✦ OUR WINGS
“
Plz share with us how you have walked the tougher path with your young athlete.
PN
✦ OUR WINGS
“
Plz share with us how you have walked the tougher path with your young athlete.
PN
✦ OUR WINGS
“
Plz share with us how you have walked the tougher path with your young athlete.
PN
✦ OUR WINGS
“
Plz share with us how you have walked the tougher path with your young athlete.
PN
✦ OUR WINGS
“
Plz share with us how you have walked the tougher path with your young athlete.
Are you one of these parents — or know one? Nominate them →
✍️ ARE YOU A PARENT?
SHARE YOUR STORY.
BE FEATURED HERE.
Tell us how you've walked the tougher path with your young athlete. Your words could help another family stop making their kid choose.
✦ OUR WINGS — OUR PARENTS · THANK YOU FOR BACKING BOTH SIDES OF US ✦