British Army learning `kabaddi` to help recruit Asians

London, Jan 3 (PTI) The British Army is learning the
popular traditional Indian sport of 'kabaddi' and hopes that
the game will help it recruit from the under-represented Asian
community.

A team of 'kabaddi' players meets often at a gymnasium
in Larkhill, Wiltshire, to practice the sport.

The team recently defeated a 'kabaddi' team from
Italy, and is likely to play against a team of india's Border
Security Force (BSF) soon.

The game was first introduced in Britain through a
Channel 4 documentary in the early 1990s. It soon gained a
small but devoted following, including among some police
forces.

The army team's coach is Ashok Das, a Indian-origin
Briton, who believes his players will form the nucleus of an
English national team that will challenge India's dominance in
the game.

"The problem is, sometimes the players get sent off to
Iraq or Afghanistan," he told The Times.

The team was first assembled in July 2007, after Das
persuaded army recruitment officers that a 'kabaddi' team
could be a powerful recruitment tool in the Asian community.

Colonel Paul Farrar, deputy head of Army Recruiting,
saw "a really good game ... something the British Army ought
to look at seriously."

Second Lieutenant Nick Burdick, of 14 Regiment, the
Royal Artillery, in Larkhill, was tasked with putting a team
together.

He said it might have been easier to recruit a team
"if it had a different name, like Murderball or Bulldog", but
in the end he walked out of his office, picked up a group of
soldiers and told them they were going to be in a kabaddi
team.

Colonel Farrar believes the momentum of the team is
growing, with the Army Physical Training Corps taking an
interest in its martial qualities.

"I have been in the Army for 35 years and never heard
of kabaddi," he said. "Perhaps in another 30 years we will
look back on these 18 months and say, 'This was when it all
started'." PTI