PHASE II REPORT

(MATH IN SPORTS)

‘Math cannot be found or formed. It is omnipresent’ says Mr.

Gopinath Adidravid, a physical Education teacher in one of the international
schools in Mumbai. If one contemplates on this quote, it throws light on the
research question as to what extent is math apparent in our daily lives. Math is
omnipresent and one cannot separate math from anything in this world. Math
makes a person methodical and systematic. It is involved in almost every action
we do, right from eating a burger or a pizza, or complicated actions of hitting a
winning goal during a foot ball match. So, the role of math in everyday life is
apparent. One can discontinue math as a subject, but one cannot erase math
completely from one’s life.
In order to get clarity about the research question as to what extent is math
apparent in our daily lives, we interviewed three professional physical
educators, viz. Mr. Gopinath Adidravid, Mr. Akilesh Kumar, and Mr. Pratheesh.
Mr. Gopinath Adidravid said that being methodical and systematic in sports lead
a player or a team to attain victory. He further added that math helps one to
prioritise and provides a clear picture about the solutions to a problem. It helps
one to be organised and eventually leads to the accurate solution. Moreover, he
stated that math occupies a strong position in sports. One needs to calculate
fast and be accurate in his/her calculations. He explained the same with the
example of combative sports that does not provide even a fraction of second to
the defender to react to the opponent’s kick. So, one needs to be defensive
instantly. Similarly, We should be aware that in games like basketball, football,
etc, time, distance and speed needs to be calculated. Mr. Adidravid quoted
another example to help us understand how closely math is related to sports.
He mentioned that while playing indoor games like carrom, the player needs to
ascertain the angle of deviation in order to pocket the coin and score a point for
himself or herself. Mr. Akhilesh Kumar stated that designing a stadium and
drawing a pitch or a court for playing basketball or badminton, drawing simple
track markings for races also require the knowledge of geometry.
Mr. Pratheesh explained the relationship between math and sports by giving an
example of a football game. He informed that in a football game, first and
foremost to understand the game of football – people and objects move in lines
and angles, times are recorded, points and statistics are calculated. Angles play
a crucial role in football, from a pass to a kick. When making a fifty-yard kick, a
shorter angle is called for so that the ball can travel greater distance to the goal.
When the oppressive team is trying to block the kick, a higher angle kick is
necessary.
To conclude, we understood how math and sports are interwoven and the
players need to be clear with their mathematical concepts well to play a perfect
game.
Reflection: We were thrilled to be a part of the EUMIND Club in our school and
as all of us had a strong liking for sports, we enjoyed every phase thoroughly.
Right from preparing the introductory videos for our group, preparing the
questionnaire for the interviews, and interviewing physical educators to gain
insight into the research question – we worked as a team and learnt a great deal
about math in sports. The collaboration with our partner school was however,
demotivating because we neither couldn’t form the WhatsApp group with the
partner school, nor did we receive any fruitful responses from them during the
video conferencing. Overall, it was an enriching experience.
Sr.no. Names of the learners Roles taken up by the learners
1 NAIMAT LEADER AND EDITOR
2 ADITYA COMPILER
3 SHIVANK INTERVIEWER
4 NEEV RECORD KEEPER
5 ARYA PHOTOGRAPHER

-Students from JBCN International School, Borivali, Mumbai, India