CHENNAI: During the summer months of June, July and August, Ishika would come to her school, Amritha Vidyalayam Ramapuram, at 5:30 am to train. The 13-year-old student is the captain of the school’s kabaddi team that won the under-14 girls category in the Tamil Thalaivas Children’s
Kabaddi Challenge held at Velammal School, Mel Ayanambakkam on September 9.
After their three-hour practice session in the morning, the team would return again in the evening to practice for another two hours. “Kabaddi is almost an unknown sport in CBSE schools. The boys played the game with their neighbours next door, but for the girls there was no awareness. Government and matriculation schools are much stronger than CBSE schools due to this,” explained A Alavaraja, team coach. After their training in the evening, Ishika explained that she would go home and play with her younger brother and friends who live nearby, shaking of the
exhaustion from practice for one more game.
In the final, the opposing team had a 13-point lead, which Ishika’s team had to break in less than five minutes. “I told my team not to feel defeated or lose hope. We were granted points and scored points of our own. When the time ran out and we realised we won, everyone fell on the ground and started crying,” said the team captain, who will lead her team in the state-level matches that will be held in October.
According to Alavaraja, the parents supported the children in equal measure, by giving their children the option to go for practices and by recording matches for the children and team to review. The school, in turn, would take the students to Chepauk to watch the Pro Kabaddi matches together with their coaches, and to learn from their role models. “My favourite player is Pradeep Narwal. He is a left guard, and no matter how many people grab him, he always escapes.
He gets out of all situations and is always laughing,” said Ishika. For Pavitra Indrajit, the second runner for the South Central Railway women’s kabaddi team, people must change their opinions on women playing kabaddi. Her father, a kabaddi player himself, motivated her and brought in sponsors for her, and she began playing the sport when she was in class seven. “We do not have the facilities that players have now. Pro kabaddi tournaments have encouraged parents to let their children play the sport, but many feel that their daughters may sustain injuries and are hesitant. I ask them to not worry,”
she said.
“These sports are de-stressing factors that the children need. They live in nuclear families in flats, which have no parks of grounds, and the children do not get a forum to display their talents,” said Subashini Haridas, principal of the school. With Health and Physical Education added to the list of subjects in the CBSE syllabus, it is important for the 4,000 students in her school to learn the lessons that these sports impart.
250 schools participated
The Tamil Thalaivas Children’s Kabaddi Challenge was held at Velammal School, Mel Ayanambakkam on September 9. A total of 250 schools from eight cities across Tamil Nadu, namely Chennai, Puducherry, Viluppuram, Tirunelveli, Thanjavur, Ambasamudram, Theni and Tiruvallur took part in the event, of which 34 schools took part in the finals held in Chennai on September 9. CEO of Tamil Thalaivas Viren D’Silva said that he intends for the sport, which is tied to Tamil Nadu’s heritage, to be promoted all through the year.