Our programs
Everything the Trust does comes back to one idea: send a young athlete somewhere unfamiliar, ask them to learn the game from the ground up, and they come home with far more than they left with. Our projects pair sport with real cultural exchange, across a range of codes and open to young people of all genders. Below are the projects running now, with more to come under the same remit.
Our Sports
Rugby is where the Trust started, because that's where the relationships were strongest and the pathway was clearest. The Trust exists to run exchanges across a range of sporting codes — wherever there's a genuine exchange to be had between India and New Zealand and a community ready to host. See What's next for where we're heading.
Kolkata - Kiwi Exchange (KKeX)
The Kolkata-Kiwi Exchange is the Trust's first project: an all-girls rugby and cultural exchange linking Christchurch with communities across India — Kolkata, Siliguri and Delhi. Players train together, compete together, and share each other's culture on and off the field. For the New Zealand players, it's a chance to see the game, and themselves, through a different lens. For their Indian counterparts, it's a rugby experience with a Kiwi team right alongside them.
Why India and New Zealand?
Two countries that take their sport seriously, and have almost nothing else in common in how they play it. That gap is the whole opportunity. India has a grassroots depth and a scale of participation that a New Zealand athlete simply cannot experience at home. New Zealand has coaching systems, pathways and a sporting culture that Indian athletes want to learn from directly. Send young people in both directions and both sides gain something they couldn't manufacture on their own.
Why India and New Zealand?
Two countries that take their sport seriously, and have almost nothing else in common in how they play it. That gap is the whole opportunity. India has a grassroots depth and a scale of participation that a New Zealand athlete simply cannot experience at home. New Zealand has coaching systems, pathways and a sporting culture that Indian athletes want to learn from directly. Send young people in both directions and both sides gain something they couldn't manufacture on their own.
Why India and New Zealand?
Two countries that take their sport seriously, and have almost nothing else in common in how they play it. That gap is the whole opportunity. India has a grassroots depth and a scale of participation that a New Zealand athlete simply cannot experience at home. New Zealand has coaching systems, pathways and a sporting culture that Indian athletes want to learn from directly. Send young people in both directions and both sides gain something they couldn't manufacture on their own.