Kabaddi delivers wow factor in Black Country school projects ahead of World Cup

Interest and participation in kabaddi is surging in the Black Country ahead of the Kabaddi World Cup 2025 thanks to a partnership between Wolverhampton Wrestling Club and United by 2022 that has added the South Asian sport to the curriculum at a number of schools.

The charity, which was created to continue the legacy of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, funded the club to lead a programme of kabaddi activities, including wrestling skills, in eight schools in the city under efforts to increase participation in the sport.

In hosting the 17-23 March World Cup, the West Midlands will become the first destination outside of Asia to stage the sport’s most prestigious competition, which will feature the world’s leading men’s and women’s teams including India, China, Iran and Pakistan.

In the build-up to the event – taking place in Wolverhampton, Walsall, Birmingham and Coventry – there are also plans to upskill volunteers and coaches to achieve coaching qualifications in the sport and to instruct teachers to deliver kabaddi sessions in schools.

The wrestling club is also partnering with around eight faith centres across the Black Country in attempts to reach a wider audience and overcome potential barriers to participation.

Active Black Country has helped to facilitate the curriculum-time kabaddi programme through collaboration with partners to ensure its sustainability.

The programme is being supported by after-school engagement with kabaddi through the Opening Schools Facilities (OSF) initiative, a Department for Education-funded scheme to encourage schools to open up to both school and community users outside of curriculum time.

The OSF programme is already underway at eight Wolverhampton schools and one in Sandwell, with further schools expected to be added through March.

Both programmes support our Creating an Active Black Country strategy whose objectives include: increasing activity levels across the least active to support good mental and physical health; increasing the range of opportunities to be active across Black Country communities; and providing young people with the best start in life through a range of varied and diverse opportunities to be active.

Raising participation in kabaddi

Wolverhampton Wrestling Club CEO Ranjit Singh, president of the British Kabaddi Association, is a key member of the World Cup organising committee. He is also playing a pivotal role in taking kabaddi into schools and delivering the Opening Schools Facilities programme.

Singh says both kabaddi programmes are achieving the aims of getting more people active, raising the sport’s participation levels and bringing communities together.

“The feedback is that kabaddi has the ‘wow’ factor. People from different backgrounds, cultures and religions are embracing it. It’s gone very well,” said Singh, whose club is based at the Guru Nanak Satsang Gurdwara, Cannock Road, Wolverhampton.

“We’ve gone the gone extra mile to make sure more females are involved as well. And kids who wouldn’t normally engage in PE lessons have engaged with kabaddi. It’s great to see.

“This is the opportunity to raise awareness and participation because there are pathways from curriculum-time and afterschool participation to our three academies in Wolverhampton, Walsall and Birmingham.”

Six of his wrestling club’s women’s team were selected to play for England at the World Cup, one is joining the England men's team and another three made the Scotland team.

Commenting on World Cup preparations, Singh said: “We have been in fast mode, training players and organising the event. Having 10 players coming from our region is a huge achievement for them and the club. We are really chuffed.”

“It’s been massive,” he added, when asked to describe the impact of the schools’ projects and World Cup hosting on kabaddi’s profile.

Leaving a legacy

The ancient sport of kabaddi, which is popular in South Asia and the most-watched sports league in India after cricket’s Indian Premier League, is a fast-paced contact sport where the aim is to enter your opponents’ territory, tag them, and make it back without being tackled.

Hosted as a joint venture between World Kabaddi, the British Kabaddi League, West Midlands Combined Authority and the four hosting local authorities of Wolverhampton, Coventry, Birmingham and Walsall, the Kabaddi World Cup 2025 is supported by £500,000 of funding support from the UK Government’s Commonwealth Games Legacy Enhancement Fund.

James Grinsted, Head of Programmes at United By 2022, which supports local young people from underrepresented groups to take part in accessible activities, said: “It’s not every day that an exciting World Cup event is happening in their home city. We’ve created this unique programme so they can feel connected to the event, have a go at the sport themselves, and gain confidence and new skills that will hopefully improve their prospects and broaden their horizons.

"With this Kabaddi project, we’ve been working with Active Black Country and the Wolverhampton Wrestling Club and the response from young people in schools and faith centres has been incredible. Beyond having a go at something new, a large part of the project offers skills training like coaching qualifications and becoming an official. When the event has been and gone, we hope our work has created a new surge of fans, players and officials so that the local club league can thrive."