National Sports Day – August 29, 2014

Background

The word ‘Sports Day’ brings us childhood memories wherein

Sports Day is either being celebrated at our school or college level.

India celebrates her sports day as ‘National Sports Day’ on August

29, 2014 to commemorate the birthday of hockey legend ‘Dhyan

Chand’. Sports day is largely pictured as an urban event. Reliance

Foundation (RF) along with village level producer institutions

(VFA) successfully brought the sports day celebration to numerous

villages last year on August 29, 2013. RF along with Producer

Companies in some project locations celebrated the same.

Synopsis of the celebrations

RF and VFAs celebrated the Sports Day 2014 together with full of

joy and spirit. Sports day 2014’s objective is to bring people

together, play and enhance bonding & relationship both within

and across the communities. 14,442 people including women and

children from 410 VFAs across 26 clusters participated in various

sports and games. Nearly 40,000 spectators enjoyed the 50

different games and sports, both traditional and modern such as

Kabaddi, Archery, Matka phod, Kho Kho, Running, Long jump,

Tug of war, Short put, Volley ball, Cricket, Rangoli, Musical chairs,

Lemon and spoon, etc. (Please refer to Annexure for type of

games/sports played across clusters, number of participants and

spectators)

This year Sports day witnessed producer institutions taking up more ownership right from

planning, organizing and managing the event. Choice and method of celebration of the event varied

from community to community. Discussion and decision about the event happened both at General

Body meeting and Executive Committee. Some of the rural communities decided to celebrate sports

day as a single day event while rest went ahead with 2-7 days of celebration. Initial village level

competitions followed by final competitions held at cluster level.

Communities managed the event efficiently by organizing into numerous sub committees such as

logistics, food, invitations, communication materials etc. to manage the events. Majorly outdoor

sports were played and conducted based on age groups, gender, body weight, mixed group, etc.

Rules of games were jointly framed by the communities and RF together with some support of

experts.

In clusters such as Adoni, Agar, Banswara, Jamwa Ramgarh

community took the responsibility of making the

playground/place to playable conditions. In cluster such as Agar,

had national level players for umpiring in some of the games.

Sports Day celebration also had community food organized at

most of the places.

In clusters such as Banswara and Rudraprayag, Sports Day was

celebrated with school children in their respective schools.

Increased participation of women ensured in majority of clusters.

Panna cluster, Sendhwa cluster, Dhanapuram village of Adoni and

Bhanpura village of Agar saw first time participation of women in

sports day. Women for first time played Kabbadi in Kamareddy.

Government functionaries, public representatives and other

guests were invited for Sports Day in clusters such as Banswara,

Gangakhed, Jasdan, Modasa, Radhanpur, Rajnandgaon and

Seoni.

Dhanapuram village conducted rallies in the village prior to

organizing the event in order to create awareness about Sports

Day. Medical facilities such as medical first aid kids arranged for

the players as a precautionary measures.

Sports Day concluded with prize distribution to winners of

various games and appreciation to all the participants. In clusters

such as Modasa, villagers took oath for bringing change.

Outcomes of the Sports Day celebrations

Inclusion of traditional games brought nostalgic

memories for many of the participants

Overall sporting spirit crossed all boundaries & barriers

and brought a feeling of joy, rejuvenation &

togetherness in each member present

Increased women participation in meetings of new VFAs

Enhanced confidence of the VFA leaders in organizing

bigger events involving substantial number of

participants

Significant visibility to the VFAs in each of the village

Learning/Shortcoming of the Sports Day

Each stage of event like planning, organization and summing up of the events like sports

day could be used as the good platforms for sharing information on various aspects.

Plantation initiated in one of the VFA on Sports Day as inauguration of the events;

VFA and RF need to make contingency plans in the case of exigencies such as rains, huge

turnout of crowd

Conducting such events more frequently will help in rapport building and as an energizer

Involving more youth in sports day and also in our larger rural transformation project

Way Forward

Review of the Sports Day organized would be taken up in the

respective VFA meetings to summarize the learning and workout

the follow up plans to organize community level events more

efficiently and effectively. Some clusters decided to conduct such

events at a smaller scale to keep the villager’s energy levels high.

Organize separate meetings for participated youth in the event,

build their interest and involve them actively in VFAs. Identify

more traditional games, document, revive the same and

incorporate in next Sports day.

Testimonials

“We have played games for the first time in our village and people from other villages visited us”

Premchandra, Kachali Khora VFA, Banswara

“Being a teacher, this is my first time to see and experience that a farmer’s association gets

mobilized and organized such a huge important event. We must continue such celebrations”

- Ayadanbhai Rabari, Santhli VFA, Radhanpur

“The sport day has given a wonderful chance to remember the olden days”

- Horilal Dehriya, Seoni

“Today I forgot all my day to day struggle and concerns. I enjoyed a lot”

- Samsingbhai, Chitalda VFA, Netrang

“Earlier, we never witnessed playing games together in village. I am very happy to see the entire

village playing together”

- Madhavi, Pedaputhikavalasa VFA, Rajam

“These types of events should be encouraged as this gives us recognition and opportunity to prove

ourselves”

- Saukari Devi, Khalwa VFA, Rudraprayag

Annexure 1: Number of games and types of games

S.No Clusters Number of games Type of games

1 Adoni 14

Kabaddi, Running, Long jump, Tug of war, Short put, Volley ball, Cricket, Rangoli, Musical chairs, Lemon and spoon, Skipping, Ring, Frog jump and Weight lifting

2 Agar 6 Clay pot (Mattka) race, spoon and lemon race, Rangoli, Tug of War, Kabbadi and Football

3 Balangir 8 Musical chair, Tug of war, Kabbadi, Foot ball, Balloon phod, Sack race, Spoon race and Matkha phod

4 Bansawara 10 Kabbadi, Volleyball, Tug of war, Spoon race, musical chair, matka race, sack race, 100m , high jump and long jump

5 Bidar 10 Kabbadi, Tug of war, running race, cycle race, sack race, rangoli, skipping, musical chair, lemon race and matka race

6 Deoghar 8 Football, Tug of war, Archery, Matka race, musical chair, Wrong answer for right question, Jalebi race and spoon race

7 Gadag 8 Tug of war, running race, long jump, rangoli,slow cycle race, sack race, spoon race and Kho Kho

8 Gangakhed 7 Kabbadi, Wrestling (Kusti), Tug of war, Kho Kho, Musical chair, Spoon race and rangoli

9 Jamai 4 Volleyball, Kabbadi, tug of war, and Musical chair

10 Jamwa Ramgarh 6

Kabbadi, Tug of war, Matka race, rangoli, drawing competion and quiz competition

11 Jasdan 4 Kabbadi, volleyball, tug of war, and spoon race

12 Kamareddy 4 Kabaddi, Musical chair, Tug of War and Rangoli

13 Karaikudi 10 Running race, tug of war, stone lifting,needle and thread, pole climbing, matka phod, matka race, slow cycle race, kabbadi and rangoli

S.No Clusters Number of games Type of games

14 Mandla 15

volleyball, kabbadi, tug of war, kho kho, wrestling (khusti), Matkhi phod, Rangoli, Kurshi daud, Teen tangi, Sui Dhaga daud, Matka daud, Jelabi race, Biscuit race, Shirt race, Baloon daud and 100 m daud

15 Modasa 4 Tir Kaman (Archery), Matka phod, Lemon race and Tug of war

16 Netrang 6 Tug of war, Horse cart race, Musical chair, patta check, sack race, and needle race

17 Panna 11 Kabaddi, Surra, Long Jump, High Jump, Volley Ball, Matka Phor, Matka Dor, Thread and Needle, 100mtr Race, Langra Race and Tug of war

18 Radhanpur 5 Kabbadi, Kho Kho, Musical chair, Spoon race and Tug of war

19 Rajam 6 Sangidi (Weight lifting) , Guntata ( Langdi ) , Tadata ( Rope pulling), Pikkalata ( Stone throwing) , Kho Kho and Kabbadi

20 Rajnandgaon 8 Kabbadi, Matki Race, and Matki Phod, Rassi Khich, Khursi Daud (Chair Race), and Cricket

21 Rudrayaprayag 6 Spoon race, Balloon race, Jalebi race, Sack race, Musical chair, and Tug of war

22 Sawai Madhopur 6

Rangoli, spoon race, lemon race, matka race, running race, tug of war and kabbadi

23 Sendhwa 7 Running race, Archery, Kabbadi, Tug of war, Sack race, Spoon race, and Matka fod

24 Seoni 12

Volley ball, Kabbadi, Rassa kassa, kho- kho, kusti, mathki phod, musical chair,100 mt race, minute to win it, spoon race, Shaila Nirtya(folk dance) and Bhajan Mandal

25 Uttarkashi 4 Sack race, Lemon race, needle race, and tug of war

26 Yavatmal 10 Dahihandi, Kabaddi,cricket, Rangoli,Volley ball, Handi phod, Lemon & spoon, Tug-of-war, Running race and Musical Chair

Total 50 different type of games

Annexure: Number of VFAs, participants and Spectators

S.No Clusters Number of VFAs

Number of Participants Number of Spectators

1 Adoni 9 655 1260

2 Agar 23 697 1404

3 Balangir 36 1763 3000

4 Banswara 12 203 1672

5 Bidar 5 650 1500

6 Deoghar 13 557 1458

7 Gadag 10 220 800

8 Gangakhed 17 796 892

9 Jamai 16 320 2400

10 Jamwa Ramgarh 28 129 2578

11 Jasdan 14 795 795

12 Kamareddy 12 252 1050

13 Karaikudi 23 314 764

14 Mandla 23 823 1973

15 Modasa 14 200 2000

16 Netrang 15 435 1231

17 Panna 7 106 586

18 Radhanpur 16 399 886

19 Rajam 13 1413 2400

20 Rajnandgaon 15 646 700

21 Rudraprayag 10 234 620

22 Sawai Madhopur 25 284 1250

23 Sendhwa 8 416 1120

24 Seoni 19 1150 3750

25 Uttarkashi 4 113 150

26 Yavatmal 23 892 3568 Total 410 14462 39807

Annexure - Snapshot from Clusters

ADONI

Tug of war at A.Gonehal VFA Running race in progress

AGAR

Kabbadi Matka Race

BALANGIR

Cultural during sports day Balloon phod

BANSWARA

Volleyball final match at Mediya Katra Students enjoying Kabbadi in their school

BIDAR

Cycle race among children Weightlifting competition

DEOGHAR

Traditional game of Archery Spoon race

GADAG

Kho Kho Relay race

GANGAKHED

Kabbadi Volleyball

JAMAI

Musical Chair Medical treatment

JAMWA RAMGARH

Huge participation for Sports day Matkha race

JASDAN

Kabbadi Inaugural of sports day

KAMAREDDY

Happy moments - Vandirkal VFA members Spectators interestingly watching Kabaddi

game with their trophy and awards

KARAIKUDI

Breaking the plot Pole climbing competition

MANDLA

Volleyball Kabbadi

MODASA

Explaining geohydrology map of the village to villagers Oath for bringing change

NETRANG

Patta Check Old Women playing with full energy

PANNA

High Jump Running race

RADHANPUR

Special guest addressing the gathering Spoon race

RAJAM

Traditional weight lifting competition Tug of war

RAJNANDGAON

Rasssi Khinch Kabbadi

RUDRAPRAYAG

Spoon race for school children Tug of war

SAWAI MADHOPUR

Inauguration of Sports day

SENDHWA

Spoon race Archery

SEONI

Shaila Nirtya/Folk dance Matkhi Phod

UTTARKASHI

Spoon race Sack race

YAVATMAL

Volleyball Tug of war