These kabaddi girls from Coimbatore set rules of their own

COIMBATORE: R Preethi, of Seeranaickenpalayam in Coimbatore, had to drop out of college as she could not afford to pay her college fees. Her parents, who are construction workers, were often rendered jobless during the pandemic. She does not have electricity at her house, but these issues do not come up in her mind when she is playing kabaddi.
Preethi led a group of girls, hailing from similar background, to victory in a tournament held in Nepal last month.Earlier, the team had won a national-level competition. They did not have the wherewithal to go to Nepal. Since it was not a government sponsored event they had to look for sponsors. The team’s coach G Satish Kumar managed to send the girls by getting a few sponsors and spending a share from his own pocket.


“Last year I joined college, but had to discontinue as I did not have a mobile phone to attend online classes. Now I have again secured an admission, but I need to pay money for semester fees to attend classes, which I don’t have. The sport helps to forget the hardships. I have been playing for the past six years, fighting all odds,” she said.
Her teammate C Keerthana, who studies in Class XI, lost her father a year ago. Her mother works as a construction worker to raise her four children. Kabaddi is her biggest inspiration. Hailing from Thadagam, Keerthana never misses the 5.30am bus to the Nehru Stadium in Coimbatore to make it on time for practice at 7am. “I do not eat in the morning. For lunch, I eat at our coach’s house and a teammate’s house on alternative days as my mother cannot afford to give me money for food. She borrowed Rs 5,000 for my school admission and is repaying it in instalments. But she keeps encouraging me to pursue the sport. Playing in Pro Kabaddi league is my ambition,” she said.
The girls came together under the guidance of coach Satish four years ago. A former kabaddi player he says that the team of 20 girls formed organically. He began with coaching at a private school when he started getting inquiries from girls from other schools who were interested to take up kabaddi. Today he is proud of his team. “The girls are very since and have developed skills to play in all sorts of competition. They are just waiting for their turn,” he said.