KISS has a strong focus on sports, as it believes in promoting an all-round development of its students. KISS has been according high importance to sports and games since its inception. Its vision is to create an environment where tribal students can excel in sports as well as academics. KISS believes that sports are not just physical activities but are essential in developing an individual’s overall personality as Sports instil a sense of discipline, teamwork, and leadership, which are crucial for students’ success in life. KISS’s sports strategy is to create a well-equipped infrastructure, train talented coaches, and nurture young talents to become world-class athletes. It has developed an excellent sports curriculum that provides students with opportunities to learn various sports and games. KISS has partnered with several government and private organisations for promotion of sports in the tribal regions. KISS’s sports infrastructure is one of the best in India. It has state-of-the-art sports facilities, all international standard, including a 400-metre athletic track, football field, hockey field, volleyball and basketball courts, archery ground, rugby ground and a gymnasium. KISS has a well-equipped indoor sports complex that includes badminton, table tennis, and chess facilities.

KISS promotes various sports and games, including athletics, archery, badminton, shooting, chess, lawn tennis, volleyball, and soft tennis. It has a dedicated team of coaches for each sport who provide training to students.

KISS has been at the forefront of promoting sports and games as an integral part of holistic education. KISS’s sports strategy is to create an environment where students can excel in sports as well as academics. Its goal is to develop sports talents among tribal students, provide them with opportunities to represent India at various international and national levels, and promote sports as a way of life. The founder of KISS, Prof. Achyuta Samanta, believes that sports are an essential component of a student’s education. He believes that sports can provide students with the necessary skills to succeed in life, including leadership, teamwork, and discipline.

In my childhood and throughout my youth, I have never played any sport due to abject poverty and hunger in which I was brought up. All my time and energy was diverted to somehow obtain a formal education that could lift us out of poverty and I often picked up odd menial jobs to augment family income and fund my studies. But I understood the potential of sports and its influence in a child’s upbringing, more because I didn’t have the luxury to participate in any sports.

So, right from the inception of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) I tried to emphasise on sports even though we were primarily building academic universities. With our dedicated efforts at Empowerment through Sports from 2005, I have made the Sports Department and Wing a high rise mountain (When I say mountain, I really mean it). Experts from the field have certified our huge state-of-the art sports infrastructure as next to none. No other university has been able to produce sportspersons to the tune of what KIIT and KISS have done in the last two decades. Our students have participated and won laurels in Olympics, ASIAD, South Asian Federation Games, Commonwealth Games and other international and national events of prominence.

Sports is inspiring, immersive, emotion-evolving and a catalyst for change. No one can deny the life changing potential of sports. I strongly believe if sports in India is given its right emphasis and due, all the budding problems of the youth will be solved peacefully.

At KISS, sports is well integrated into the curriculum from the age of five. At KIIT, the students interested in sports and players are groomed to bring laurels to the state and nation. In Hindi, I coined a phrase “खेलते खेलते पढ़ते रहो और पढ़ते पढ़ते खेलते रहो” which literally means that sports and academics should go hand-in-hand. I hope that sports is given its right importance and children inclined towards sports are encouraged to take it up as a professional avenue.

With our focus and passion, we pledge to give to the nation 4-5 international sportspersons every Olympics and other international events from 2024.