Traditional games get a boost

In a bid to revive the old, traditional games with which this country once shared a strong bond like bouchi, gollachut, dariabandha, kanamachi, danguli, skipping, cockfight, the government has introduced a three-year scheme titled “Traditional Sports Competition”, to be held in all 64 districts over the next three years.
“Following the directives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, we are going to hold the rural sports competition in all 4545 unions, 418 upazillas, 64 districts and all divisions in an effort to bring back the popularity and revive those rural disciplines,” said state minister for youth and sports Ahad Ali Sarker at a press conference at the National Sports Council yesterday.
Sarker said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave her consent and declared the competition open as she would open it at a nearby union or upazilla of the capital immediately.
Having mentioned his government's ongoing talent hunt and training programme in the twenty regular disciplines, Sarker said, “Our prime target is to boost the willingness to work and strengthen the fraternity among the people and keep young people out of bad habits like drug abuse through those rural sports which once were popular.”
The minister said people's social interaction and willingness to be productive have been decreasing day by day due to the fading from prominence of these sports, and consequently the youth society is being derailed.
“We are now expecting that rural sports will spread again and regain its popularity through this competition over three years. A healthy and entertaining environment will prevail and evils such as eve-teasing and addiction will be reduced. The youth will enjoy a sporting environment and the heritage of traditional sports will be handed down to a new generation,” said Sarker.
The minister also informed that they had selected 18 districts for the first-phase competition as the government has already allotted a budget of Tk 227.5 lakh for the phase. The government will also provide Tk 666.36 lakh for three years.
After the completion of union, upazilla, district and divisional competitions respectively, the finals will be held in Dhaka at the Bangabandhu National Stadium as the National Sports Council formed different committees at different levels to make the competitions a success.
The sports of Bouchi, kabaddi, chi-buri, dariabandha, gollachut, skipping, cockfight, running with biscuits, oily bamboo climbing, stick fight, marbles, latim, kite-flying, pillow fight, kanamachi, danguli, tug-of-war, ekka dokka, satchara and rowing have been kept in the competitions.
Later in the press conference, the sports minister met with the national hockey team who won the AHF Cup in Thailand. The minister announced Tk 10,000 each for the winning squad.