New Delhi [India], September 10 (ANI): Be it the Olympics, Paralympics, Hockey, or Cricket, over the past few decades, women in India have made remarkable strides in sports, breaking barriers and redefining the norms. The Indian government has been empowering women through initiatives like the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam and various other policies.
India’s development journey is closely interlinked with the empowerment of its women. Recognising this critical connection, the central government has placed Nari Shakti at the forefront of its agenda, and the focus has been to progress from women-led development to women-led development. However, the orientation towards exclusive women driven sports when compared with mens sports still has some way to go before one can claim parity. According to Kanthi D Suresh, President of the Holistic International Pravasi Sports Association (HIPSA), despite the government’s focus on women’s sports, the same is yet to percolate into the eco-system as a whole, as most of the time support often arrives once female athletes have already proven their mettle.
“There is definitely a focus on women after all the initiatives taken by the government in their favour. But all that support comes only once she attains success,” said Kanthi D Suresh, the President of the HIPSA, as per a statement.
“The question is how many are willing to take the risk before that happens, in spite of seeing potential. How much of a risk appetite does the private sector have when it comes to investing in exclusive women’s sports. Only a handful of corporations currently have that will. That’s where real glory in contribution lies,” she added.
In India, apart from the Women’s Premier League (WPL), which also took off after 15 years of their male counterparts, the IPL, with consistent efforts from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), there are no sports leagues that are exclusively dedicated to women. Most of the domestic leagues having women teams are clubbed together as a package, with more than 70 percent of the matches for men. The upcoming Global Pravasi Women’s Kabaddi League (GPKL), slated to take place in India might be a game changer. This event will bring together female Kabaddi players from over 15 countries, in Season one.
HIPSA has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Haryana for Worldwide training of Women in the sport of Kabaddi. The interest for the sport amongst women globally, saw a surge after HIPSA and World Kabaddi together ensured its entry on the Guinness Book of World Records in March this year.
GPKL, with six teams in the inaugural season, each team having a mix of Indian and international players, is set to kick off in Gurugram, Haryana, shortly. The curiosity levels to see women from across the world come and play the indigenous sport of Kabaddi, could pave the way for its claim to fame. While the sight of Asian women playing the sport is not something unique, adding the African, European, and Pan American representation is a sight many would like watch and appreciate.
The Global Pravasi Women’s Kabaddi League will feature players from over 15 countries in the first Season. While Athletes from diverse backgrounds, including nations like England, Poland, Argentina, Canada, and Italy, have expressed their desire to feature in the League, the organisers are making sure to have representation across all continents in league with all 6 teams to have a player representation of at least 3 continents in each team, with each season thereafter seeing an increase in the countries that players would be coming from, with a strong 10 year plan in place to cover atleast 40 countries from where women would be actively participating in GPKL. (ANI)
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