Six-time World Boxing Champion MC Mary Kom and ace footballer Sunil Chhetri have urged the Indians to embrace sports and engage themselves in regular physical activity after an report formulated by sports brand PUMA India and analytics firm Nielsen Sports revealed that kids and adults in the country lack the motivation to participate in sports and physical activities.

The one-of-kind report reveals that the lack of inspiration to pursue sport & fitness as a lifestyle was attributed to a lack of time by the respondents. Both kids and adults listed this as the primary barrier to participating in sports and physical activities, followed by other challenges such as lack of facilities and high cost.

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Speaking on the findings of the report and PUMA’s ‘Let There Be Sport’ campaign Mary Kom said, “Sport and fitness activities are important for your wellbeing, no matter how old you are. In fact, it boosts brain power as you age. Given the hectic lives we lead, I feel sports must be a part of our daily regime. I persuade and encourage every Indian to work out or play at least one sport a day to keep fit. I will work closely with PUMA on this new campaign and will do everything in my capacity to support the cause of sport.”

The report also discovered that adults with high sports participation are likely to exhibit more positive emotions than adults in general by 21% and a direct correlation was found between low sports participants and poor emotional well-being.

Emphasizing the need to value sports as much as academics, Sunil Chhetri also expressed his thoughts on the state of play of India’s participation in sports and physical activities.

“The day we treat mathematics, science, geography, and sport equally in terms of importance, we will begin seeing a change. How can you improve athletically with one PT period in a week? Sports needs to be treated like a solid subject. It builds character, it is a serious career option and if nothing, it leaves you in a much better place on every front. Play a sport. Not to win but to compete, or get fitter. Just, simply play. It will teach you lessons that no textbook ever will,” said Chhetri.

The PUMA-Nielsen sports survey was conducted across 16 cities, 4280 respondents aged from 18-65 years old (including parents of kids aged between 6-18). The report also sheds light on the demographics of the participation of kids in sports or physical activities on a weekly basis with those in the East part of India (125 minutes) being notably more involved than those in the South (80 minutes), North (72 minutes) and West (68 minutes).

The new campaign by PUMA, headlined Let There Be Sport, questions the conventional mindset that sports is a digression from academics. It states that, in reality, there is a direct positive correlation between the adoption of sport and fitness and improved academic performance and emotional well-being. Sports equip one with skills such as discipline, teamwork, and navigating success and failure.

Under the new campaign, PUMA also released a Digital Film today featuring its brand ambassadors Virat Kohli, MC Mary Kom, Sunil Chhetri, Avani Lekhara, to Bhagwani Devi, and everyday athletes. Created by Ogilvy & Mather India, the 90-second film launched on PUMA India’s social handles on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, captured the archetypal need to call sport an extra-curricular activity, and in turn advocated the increased adoption of sports culture to foster the overall development of the nation.