At 18, Ashok Rathod simply wanted the children of Mumbai’s Ambedkar Nagar slum to stay off the streets. Every weekend he gathered a handful of kids for football, hoping sport would steer them away from addiction, child marriage, and dropping out of school.

That modest effort grew into the OSCAR (Organization for Social Change, Awareness & Responsibility) Foundation in 2010. Its powerful mantra — “No School, No Football” — links access to football training with regular school attendance. Over 26,000 underprivileged children across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Daman & Diu have benefitted.

Stories like Yamini’s prove its impact. Once shy and unsure, she found confidence, captained inter-community matches, and dreams of donning the India jersey. Through life-skills workshops on health, hygiene, and leadership, OSCAR nurtures self-belief beyond the field.

Scaling up was no easy feat: Ashok faced sceptical parents, donor paperwork, and ridicule. Yet persistence paid off. Today, OSCAR partners with education departments, trains teachers, and proves that football can be a bridge to discipline, teamwork, and hope.

“Education keeps a child in school; football keeps a child alive with dreams,” Ashok says — a vision still kicking.