‘Kabaddi’ reinvents itself in Khel Vikas’ Thuamul Rampur School, Odisha

Students at Khel Vikas’ Thuamul Rampur School developed a renewed liking for the traditional Indian sport of ‘kabaddi’, which has found a second wind in India with the advent of a new league for the sport. The ‘Pro Kabaddi League’ which runs for a month, is played among eight city-based franchises of India. Thuamul Rampur School's PE teacher, Mr. Santosh Das, himself being a state level kabaddi player, took this opportunity to add kabaddi to the students' weekly physical activity schedule.

Kabaddi, a game which is mostly popular in rural parts of India, had been keeping the Thuamul Rampur school children busy during the PE and after school sports sessions. Now, with kabaddi reinventing itself in the form of a new league in India, school children have drawn a special interest towards the sport and hence the school management has allowed the children to watch the league games.

The Kabaddi League has motivated more active participation during PE classes and also contributed to the increase in participation in after-school sports. Furthermore, the school management took this opportunity to generate interest among female students, promoting gender equality, by organising weekly Kabaddi competitions for both boys and girls. Thus the school endeavours to educate the school children about sports through different media platforms, as has been the case with the Kabaddi League.

The school is now considering using the upcoming Asian Games 2014 as part of their agenda to educate children about a multi-disciplined sports event. Considering the increase in sports and games participation, Pro Sport Development is now working to setup cricket practice nets in the school premises by late September as part of the Khel Vikas programme which strives to offer better facilities for the students to participate in sport.

[This article was edited by the Operating Team]