Why not Kho-Kho

Kho-Kho

Introduction and History

Kho - Kho is an Indian game. It is popular in the whole of India. It originated at Pune Gymkana in the state of Maharashtra. Its team in India is called Kho- Kho Federation of India (K.K.F.I). Kho- Kho is a game played in 2 innings by 12 nominated players out of 15, on each side. Initially 9 players start the game and 3 are kept reserve. One team becomes the chasers and the other the defenders or runners. In the game, the chaser pursues the runners; tags and touches them and makes them out. Each team has to chase and defend for 9 minutes twice in a match. 


It's based on natural principles of physical development, fosters a healthy combative spirit of term understanding. Kho Kho was derived from the different strategy and tactics of "Kurukshetra" war in Mahabharatha

Like all Indian games, it is simple, inexpensive and enjoyable. It does, however, demand physical fitness, strength, speed and stamina, and a certain amount of ability. Dodging, feinting and bursts of controlled speed make this game quite thrilling. To catch by pursuit - to chase, rather than just run - is the capstone of Kho-Kho.The game develops qualities such as obedience, discipline, sportsmanship, and loyalty between team members.

The rules of the game were framed in the beginning of the 20th century. At Gymkhana Poona, a Committee was formed in 1914, to frame its rules. The first ever rules on Kho-Kho were published from Gymkhana Baroda, in 1924. In 1959-60, the first national Kho-Kho championship was organised in Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh). The Government has initiated the following awards for the game: Arjuna Award, Eklavya Award for men, Rani Laxmi Bai award for women, Veer Abhimanyu award for boys under 18, and Janaki award for girls under 16.

As per the Kho-Kho Federation of India, this is the pole which shows that how much is kho-kho popular ans people play in India.

FIELD RESEARCH

1. Capt. Kaptan Singh
MITID Physical trainer/instructor

I went to Capt. Kaptan Singh(coach) to talk to him about Sports Inequality in India and to know more about Kho-Kho and the traditional games of India. As he is from army background and he started playing sports after joining army and then he shifted to the sports field of army. So, he told me that people in India are really narrow minded and they think that Kho-Kho is a child sport and only school kids play this game and that too till grade 10 maximum. But as per him this a middle age game as it comprises of a lot of injuries, stamina and logic behind each and every step. 

So,we came to a conclusion that people don't excel in Kho-Kho because there is no job opportunity in defense, police and railways as these are the three main government branches in which sports recruitment is accepted. Because at the end of the day "PAISA BOLTA HAI". And Kho-Kho requires a lot of improvement in equipment and infrastructure and it also comprises of a lot of injuries.

So i asked him that what if we start getting recruitment in defense, police and railways for Kho-Kho ? He answered that "then 110% Kho-Kho would get acknowledgement and people would start playing Kho-Kho in this country. Because people in rural areas play Kho-KHo more and there is a lot of potential in them to play but because there is no job safety, that is why they don't continue playing Kho-Kho and this is how our tradition is fading away.

2. Ganesh Brahmin-9021560228
Age: 33 yrs
Qualification: Specialization in Kho-Kho for 1 yr
Kho-Kho coach in milimin english medium school

Kaptan sir helped me find a coach from pune and he helped me with my assignment as he told me about the problems which Kho-Kho is facing and requirements which Kho-Kho needs to become popular in India.

Problems Kho-Kho is facing:
1. less matches
2. limited to gramin sector
3. only popular in government schools

Requirements:

1. kids need motivation
2. more tournaments and events to be organised
3. recruitment or job security for professional players

Conclusion

After talking to Capt. Kaptan Singh and Ganesh Brahmin I can say that one of the major problems is recruitment or job safety. So, i'll have to focus on recruitment of Kho-Kho players in companies or in government organisations like defense, police and railways. This is a possible solution from which the chances of Kho-Kho being famous and people actually start playing Kho-Kho seriously.

SPECIFIC PROBLEM STATEMENT

RECRUITMENT OF KHO-KHO PLAYERS IN INDIA

SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT- Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat

I have shown the swot analysis of recruitment of kho-kho players.

So, the main problem because of which Traditional Game (KHO-KHO) is not popular or not much people play this game is because the job security is not there or they are not getting any recruitment from the government organisations which includes army, police and railways. If we start with the job security of the players of this game then people would start playing this game and the game would become popular and one of the major traditional games would come up and the changes of fading away of these games would decrease.