12 Chhattisgarh Government Schools Take Cricket Beyond Gender with Girl Rising’s Rise Premier League

Nidhi Shukla, Co CEO, Girl Rising, says the mixed gender league gives girls and boys space to lead and make decisions as equals, as more than 3,800 students across Bilha Block participate in the wider RISE programme supported by HP and the HP Foundation.

A cricket match involving school students can be about runs, wickets and winning. In Bilaspur, it is also being used to test something students have been learning inside their classrooms: whether girls and boys can lead, communicate, make decisions and compete as equals.
Girl Rising India Foundation has launched the Rise Premier League in Chhattisgarh, bringing students from 12 government schools across Bilha Block into an organised mixed gender cricket league.
Girls and boys play on the same teams, with both taking part in batting, bowling, fielding, strategy and decision making.

The league takes lessons from Girl Rising’s RISE curriculum beyond the classroom by giving students an opportunity to practise confidence, teamwork, communication and leadership through sport.
The RISE programme includes 30 interactive sessions through which teachers introduce social and emotional learning, leadership, gender equality, digital and AI skills, financial literacy and climate awareness.
Following a pilot last year, the programme is now expected to reach more than 3,800 students across 12 government schools.
The Rise Premier League is organised by Girl Rising India Foundation in partnership with the Samarpit Centre for Poverty Alleviation and Social Research, with support from HP and the HP Foundation.

The idea behind the league has an unusual starting point.
Kusum’s Adventurous Innings, a comic book used within the RISE curriculum, tells the story of a young girl who wants to play cricket despite being told that the sport is not for girls.
Kusum encounters expectations that place girls within household and caregiving roles. Her story questions those restrictions and encourages young readers to consider the choices girls should be able to make for themselves.
The fictional story eventually moved onto a real cricket field.

Inspired by the response to the comic, Girl Rising organised a mixed gender cricket match for the International Day of the Girl in 2025. Student participation and enthusiasm led to the creation of the annual Rise Premier League.
This year’s league brings that experiment to a larger format.
Four mixed gender teams will compete through league stage matches, with the competition scheduled to conclude on October 10, ahead of the International Day of the Girl.
The league also intends to involve parents, teachers, district education officials and local communities, taking the discussion about girls in sport beyond participating students.

Nidhi Shukla, Co CEO, Girl Rising, said, “The Rise Premier League is a powerful platform where adolescents learn to lead, collaborate and challenge the norms that limit their potential.”
For Shukla, an important part of the experience is allowing girls to take positions in which their decisions directly influence their teams.
“At its heart is the extraordinary feeling of girls stepping forward as leaders, making decisions, shaping strategy, uplifting their teammates and demonstrating the confidence that emerges when they are given equal opportunity,” she said.
The format is equally significant for boys. Playing as equal teammates creates an environment where participation is based on shared responsibility rather than conventional ideas about which roles belong to girls or boys.

Ipsita Dasgupta, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, HP India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, said young people need opportunities not only to learn but also to lead, collaborate, solve problems and develop confidence.
“The Rise Premier League is a powerful example of how learning can extend beyond the classroom, helping the youth develop the skills and self belief they need to contribute meaningfully to India’s growth journey,” Dasgupta said.
Dr. Sandeep Sharma, President, Samarpit Centre for Poverty Alleviation and Social Research, also positioned the league as more than a sporting competition.
He said the experience gives girls opportunities to demonstrate their abilities and lead with confidence while encouraging boys to practise respect, inclusion and equal partnership.

For schools, the field provides a practical setting in which lessons normally discussed in a classroom can be experienced under pressure.
Bhupendra Kaushik, Block Education Officer of Bilha, said students today require more than academic knowledge, pointing to confidence, teamwork, communication, leadership and decision making as important life skills.
“The Rise Premier League gives them an opportunity to put that learning into practice on the cricket field,” Kaushik said.
For some participating girls, the league is also their first opportunity to lead a team, contribute to collective decisions and experience being trusted as an equal participant.

That distinction matters to the larger purpose of the programme.
Confidence and leadership are difficult to develop through instruction alone. A student can be told to speak up, collaborate or make decisions, but the experience changes when those skills determine what happens next in an actual game.
Girl Rising’s wider work in India focuses on social and emotional skills among adolescents, particularly girls, through government schools and communities.
Over the past decade, the organisation says it has reached more than 600,000 adolescents, 36,000 teachers and 27,000 parents. During the current academic year, it is working with more than 60,000 adolescents and 1,200 teachers across Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The Rise Premier League brings one part of that work into a setting young people immediately understand.
There will still be runs to score, wickets to take and matches to win. But the result Girl Rising is looking for extends beyond the scoreboard.
When girls and boys learn to trust each other’s decisions, share responsibility and compete on the same side, the cricket field becomes a place where equality is not simply discussed. It is practised.

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