JOIN USAs Geeta warms up for a special session with Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Men Team’s Head Coach Honnappa C Gowda and assistant coach, Arjun Singh, she looks confident to take even on the men just like her other team members.
She says, “Kabaddi is in my blood as my mother used to play it. In our village in Sheikhpura, Haryana, we were never before allowed. Once a tournament happened and we wanted to play. There were many teams that had come and we used to wonder when we would go and play at higher levels. Then, we slowly started playing. Now, it’s six-seven years here. We are playing consistently at the national level, winning often and have attended India Camp.”
The intensity on her face matches the intensity of the effort her entire team, of seven players, displays at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex, in the city.
Mention rustic and one sport that immediately comes to mind is kabaddi. A popular pastime in our country, this sport is holding sway at the world stage owing to Indian teams’ stupendous victories, whether it’s men’s or women’s team or at the World Cup or any other tournaments. With such a record, it should come as no surprise that the franchisee-based league of the sport took the masses by storm last year.
While the inaugural edition of PKL was a roaring success, second only to the Indian Premier League, in terms of viewership, the female viewership was 34 per cent which indicated the niche fan following. Seeing this upward trend of women getting hooked to kabaddi and nurture new sporting talents, the team from the capital–Dabang Delhi– has been organising camps and talent scouting in rural belts of Haryana and UP to unearth young prospects, with its Dabang Delhi Grassroots Initiative.
Radha Kapoor, owner of Dabang Delhi franchise and the only woman owner in PKL tells Metrolife, “I truly believe that kabaddi is a ‘rurban’ sport that can reach out to the rural, urban and the metro India. And the responses we received from Delhi firms our belief. There is a huge pool of untapped talent waiting to be scouted and we intend to reach out to them. We have special training camps for ‘women’s kabaddi’, enabling them to be a part of the ‘rurban emergence’.”
Though, the women’s team is yet to make its debut, Neelam Sahoo, physical education teacher by profession and coach at Palam Sports Club, Dwarka and two-time Delhi State Award-winner shares excitedly, “In the coming times, I want that PKL which has a spot for girls should keep on continuing.” She adds, “I want others to take this initiative like her (Kapoor) for kabaddi so that girls get the support they haven’t received until now. Boys are always supported. But girls do not get that kind of a support.”
National Junior Federation Cup finalist, Bhawna, 17 years, tells Metrolife, “I started playing Kabaddi when I was in Class 7. I liked doing ‘Bonus’ from the start and that got me addicted.” Another player, Mansi, 17 years shares, “My interest was developed looking at the seniors in track suits.”
Shivani Panjal, 15 years, a former Judo player and a team member at Kabaddi India Sports Club, explains her shift to kabaddi from Judo. She says, “It is a team game unlike Judo.” She adds, “Girls have much more talent and now they are coming forward.”
The Palam Sports Club team has been winning top honours for the last 20 years, most recent being a Bronze medal at the 35th National Games, 2015. But the path has not been easy for many. “We see that girls in villages are not allowed. We also faced such pressures at the start but my parents were supportive. And, we haven’t stopped or looked back after that,” says 23-year-old Geeta who got a government job at the Northern Railways.
Being the state game of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Punjab, with as many local names from hututu in Maharashtra to sadugudu in Tamil Nadu, Kabaddi has retained its rustic charm while being enterprising with its potential.
“Kick, slip, ‘small game’, ‘big game’, hand-touch, toe-touch. The girls know every technique in the book. kabaddi is a game of the mind,” says Sahoo. She adds, “Earlier, girls used to be a little disappointed. I did not have anything before, but now, I have a lot to tell them including economic or future security.”
“Our women sportsperson like Saina (badminton), Mary (boxing), Dipika (squash) Sania (tennis) Mamta (kabaddi) are doing exceptionally well and in a way have opened the mindset of a lot of people. Women are slowly coming out of their comfort zone and showcasing that even they are fierce competitors,” sums up Kapoor.