UBS Athletics Kids Cup targets 1 million children as 2026 season begins

The UBS Athletics Kids Cup is entering its third season with a bold ambition: to inspire one million children across the country to get active through sport. Following rapid growth in its first two years, the grassroots initiative is expanding its activities to new cities, scaling up its school-based model and systematically expanding its nationwide ‘train-the-trainers’ programme in order to embed sport within the Indian education system on a long-term basis.

The initiative, organised in India by Dspowerparts and supported by UBS, will be held across Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Chennai, with additional cities expected to be added during the season.

From momentum to mission: the road to one million

Now entering its third year, the programme has expanded rapidly since its launch, engaging hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren through athletics-based competitions focused on running, jumping and throwing.

The organisers explained that the one-million target is the next major step, though not necessarily for 2026. In addition to further increasing participant numbers, the main focus is on strengthening the entire system.

Train-the-Trainers: scaling impact through educators

A key focus this year is the ongoing development of the ‘Train-the-Trainer’ programme, which is designed to equip PE teachers with the tools they need to run athletics activities in schools on a long-term basis.

The initiative is based on the successful format of Switzerland’s UBS Kids Cup, which has just produced the new indoor heptathlon world record holder, Simon Ehammer, and aims to promote physical activity, health and the personal development of children aged 7 to 15.

Competitions are conducted through schools, with participants progressing from local events to regional and city-level finals in a structured, multi-stage format .