HYDERABAD: A Telugu kabaddi player is changing the fate and face of the sport in the country. A Dronacharya awardee, E Prasad Rao, is training referees and educating players at the grassroots to strengthen the foundation of the increasingly popular sport. In an exclusive interview with CE, he shares how and why Kabaddi needs its attention, the BTS of a successful tournament, and more.
Kabaddi as a sport is the most difficult to refer to, with the faintest of touches, multiple moving elements, aggressive appeals, and over-enthusiastic coaches/supporting staff on the sidelines. Thanks to the Pro Kabaddi League, the sport is being watched by millions of people worldwide, witnessed from different camera angles, played under 500 lux lighting, has thousands of spectators and yet the referees give the correct decision without fumbling despite having zero background in formal English education.
Mashal Sports, a pioneer in Kabaddi, trains and educates technical directors, referees, supporting staff, players and other elements to make the PKL a grand success. Hence, every year, they organise physical camps for referees to train/educate them about the nitty gritty of the sport. This year, they will have two weeklong camps at Rao's academy. They will have ready access to teams and players so that officiating and executing their training becomes more effortless.
The referees throughout the physical camps and digital sessions are trained on several aspects, including technical rules, formal education, pronunciations, body language and gestures, integrity, fitness and pressure handling techniques, etc.
"One of the vital reasons behind Pro Kabaddi's success is the way we have presented the sport to the audience. With technological advancements, Kabaddi has kept on evolving. Its impression is not just focused on the players, but on coaches, officials, and referees as well. We only had referees and scorers for matches in traditional Kabaddi. But now, the term has changed, it is called 'Technical Officials' because they perform different duties on match days. Apart from on-field referees and umpires, there is a Technical Desk that takes care of scoring and timing, then there is a Technical Room behind the two which supervises the FOP operations and makes sure everything runs smoothly," Prasad, the technical director of PKL, explains.
Prasad broke new grounds to make the sport more sophisticated and congenial to foreign players firstly by bringing the game from mud to synthetic mats, introducing footwear and modifying the rules of the sport to suit International requirements. "This boosted this indigenous game from its rural, rustic status to its present modern, scientific and technologically improved international status. Several changes in the rules to make the sport more attractive resulted in modernising Kabaddi as well as getting the sport included in the Asian Beach and Indoor Games," he shares.
He adds that while earlier, no one was keen on becoming a referee, after Pro Kabaddi, their value has increased, and technical officials have also started getting recognition. "We don't prepare referees during the season only, it's a year-long process. In order to remain in constant communication with each candidate throughout the year, we conduct online sessions during the off-season as well. We are in the ninth season, which is an incredible achievement, but we have a long way to go," he signs off.