Nepal Advances School Sport through U14 Games and New National Partnership

Jul. 3, Kathmandu, Nepal – The Nepal School Sports Federation (NSSF), a committed member of the International School Sport Federation (ISF), has recently coordinated two milestone initiatives to strengthen school sport nationally: the successful organisation of the U14 School Games, and the signing of a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Private and Boarding School Organization Nepal (PABSON)—an umbrella body representing over 6,500 private schools across the country.

National U14 School Games

Held from June 8 to 12, 2025, the U14 School Games were jointly managed by NSSF, PABSON, N-PABSON, and the Nepal Teachers Federation, under the leadership of the National Sports Council (NSC). The Games featured six sports disciplines: athletics, rugby, table tennis, basketball 3x3, badminton, and cricket. After extensive district and provincial selection rounds involving over 700,000 student-athletes, 530 finalists from seven provinces competed at the national level.

The event opened at Dasharath Stadium in Tripureshwar, led by Youth and Sports Minister Hon. Tejulal Chaudhary. In his remarks, Minister Chaudhary praised the Games as an essential platform for identifying future sporting talents and reinforcing the foundation of school-level sport in Nepal. and kabaddi bronze medallist Manmati Bishta. In his remarks, Minister Chaudhary praised the Games as an essential platform for identifying future sporting talents and reinforcing the foundation of school-level sport in Nepal.

Strengthening School Sport Governance

Building on this momentum, on July 3, 2025, NSSF and PABSON signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enhance the structure, inclusiveness, and impact of school sport across Nepal’s private education system.

NSSF President Mr. Binod Shrestha highlighted the agreement as “a milestone in the development of school-level sport in Nepal,” and expressed hope that more Nepali students would be represented internationally through ISF competitions.

PABSON President Mr. Krishna Prasad Adhikari added, “Since education and sports are an integral part of modern education and can make the country renowned in the national and international sector, this collaboration will give more priority to sports along with education in private schools."

With aligned values and a shared vision, this partnership between NSSF and PABSON stands as a strong model of how national coordination can expand opportunities for student-athletes and strengthen the global school sport movement.

The agreement defines a wide-ranging collaboration framework, including:

• Fund and resource mobilization, monitoring and evaluation, program management, and participation in training and capacity building programs.
• To involve schools in sports and educational programs organized by the International School Sports Federation (ISF) in collaboration with the NSSF.
• Encourage schools under PABSON to actively participate in competitions and training programs.
• Participate in programs such as gender equality, leadership development, workshops, training and motivation, women's empowerment, anti-doping, child abuse, leadership projects, and children's sports psychology.
• Conduct workshops and training sessions for school staff, including coaches and physical education instructors, to enhance their skills, including the school solidarity project and more.
• Providing specialized training to prepare for national and international competitions
• To arrange scholarships and awards.
• 6500 private schools affiliated with PABSON will be the members of Nepal School Sports Federation.
• To organize sports competitions like NSSF PABSON Cup, ISF PABSON Cup, ISF PABSON Combat Games, ISF PABSON Games, School Premier League (SPL), etc., and to collaborate in organizing inter-school sports events and competitions at district, regional, and national levels in team and individual sports.
• Conduct talent identification and sports development programs.
• Partner with NSSF and ISF Academy Nepal for workshops and sports curriculum.