ONE of the facts that comes to mind about sports in this country is the lack of accepted sports to which majority of the world subscribes. Take the game of soccer which the whole world refers to as football, but over here football is a game that has very little to do with foot but more with the hands. Though this country is basically a “nation of immigrants” the sports scene is nothing of that sort. Cricket, popular in Commonwealth countries are played on the East Coast while soccer is played wherever there are large Hispanic concentrations. To my mind, the Sikhs came here almost 100 years ago and our traditional sport of Kabbadi ought to have gained lot of mileage by now but sadly it’s not. Therefore, should we not do something positive to make the sport more acceptable to the Ameri cans. The right way would be to have exhibition matches between two outstanding teams and in front of an invited audience, consisting of T.V. crews and sports representatives of the press. This, over a stretch of time, can cover the county at first and then the state and lastly the whole country. It’s a project worth exploring and given the push it should succeed. Americans are not averse to accepting adventure and courage in sports and who knows Kabaddi may in the future come to occupy a prime place in the sports calendar. Folks, how about it, give it a thought. Till next week.
Sportingly Yours
RS
Article extracted from this publication >> June 12, 1987
