Basketball and education brings Phillips Academy students from Massachusetts to Chennai

For several years, the relationship between Massachusetts and Tamil Nadu has been strengthened by basketball, specifically through the efforts of the Crossover Basketball and Scholar's Academy who have been flying from the USA to Chennai every year and using basketball as a vehicle for learning and education for Indian children. This year, one member of Team Crossover has extended that relationship by passing it on to students of Andover's Phillips Academy, who are currently in Chennai organizing basketball workshops and working with NGOs.

As part of the Niswarth Hoops 2015 programme, Phillips Academy's Biology instructor Raj Mundra has brought a team of 15 students and head coaches of the varsity basketball team "to explore the intersections of sport, education and culture." The group aims to interact with government and private classrooms, organize basketball workshops, learn from NGOs, and visit cultural sites in and around Chennai during their trip. They landed in India on Sunday, November 22.

The American International School of Chennai, Crossover Basketball, and Teach for India have partnered or are supporting Niswarth Hoops in this programme.