India's National Sports Day, celebrated on August 29, 2014, honored hockey legend Dhyan Chand and aimed to foster community bonding through sports, with 14,442 participants from 410 village-level producer institutions engaging in various games. The event saw increased women's participation and local communities taking charge of organizing, creating a sense of togetherness and joy. Feedback emphasized the importance of continuing such celebrations to enhance engagement and revive traditional games.

1. National Sports Day – August 29, 2014
Background
The word ‘Sports Day’ brings us childhood memories wherein
Sports Day is either being celebrated at our school or college level.
India celebrates her sports day as ‘National Sports Day’ on August
29, 2014 to commemorate the birthday of hockey legend ‘Dhyan
Chand’. Sports day is largely pictured as an urban event. Reliance
Foundation (RF) along with village level producer institutions
(VFA) successfully brought the sports day celebration to numerous
villages last year on August 29, 2013. RF along with Producer
Companies in some project locations celebrated the same.
Synopsis of the celebrations
RF and VFAs celebrated the Sports Day 2014 together with full of
joy and spirit. Sports day 2014’s objective is to bring people
together, play and enhance bonding & relationship both within
and across the communities. 14,442 people including women and
children from 410 VFAs across 26 clusters participated in various
sports and games. Nearly 40,000 spectators enjoyed the 50
different games and sports, both traditional and modern such as
Kabaddi, Archery, Matka phod, Kho Kho, Running, Long jump,
Tug of war, Short put, Volley ball, Cricket, Rangoli, Musical chairs,
Lemon and spoon, etc. (Please refer to Annexure for type of
games/sports played across clusters, number of participants and
spectators)
This year Sports day witnessed producer institutions taking up more ownership right from
planning, organizing and managing the event. Choice and method of celebration of the event varied
from community to community. Discussion and decision about the event happened both at General
Body meeting and Executive Committee. Some of the rural communities decided to celebrate sports
day as a single day event while rest went ahead with 2-7 days of celebration. Initial village level
competitions followed by final competitions held at cluster level.
Communities managed the event efficiently by organizing into numerous sub committees such as
logistics, food, invitations, communication materials etc. to manage the events. Majorly outdoor
sports were played and conducted based on age groups, gender, body weight, mixed group, etc.
Rules of games were jointly framed by the communities and RF together with some support of
experts.

2. In clusters such as Adoni, Agar, Banswara, Jamwa Ramgarh
community took the responsibility of making the
playground/place to playable conditions. In cluster such as Agar,
had national level players for umpiring in some of the games.
Sports Day celebration also had community food organized at
most of the places.
In clusters such as Banswara and Rudraprayag, Sports Day was
celebrated with school children in their respective schools.
Increased participation of women ensured in majority of clusters.
Panna cluster, Sendhwa cluster, Dhanapuram village of Adoni and
Bhanpura village of Agar saw first time participation of women in
sports day. Women for first time played Kabbadi in Kamareddy.
Government functionaries, public representatives and other
guests were invited for Sports Day in clusters such as Banswara,
Gangakhed, Jasdan, Modasa, Radhanpur, Rajnandgaon and
Seoni.
Dhanapuram village conducted rallies in the village prior to
organizing the event in order to create awareness about Sports
Day. Medical facilities such as medical first aid kids arranged for
the players as a precautionary measures.
Sports Day concluded with prize distribution to winners of
various games and appreciation to all the participants. In clusters
such as Modasa, villagers took oath for bringing change.
Outcomes of the Sports Day celebrations
 Inclusion of traditional games brought nostalgic
memories for many of the participants
 Overall sporting spirit crossed all boundaries & barriers
and brought a feeling of joy, rejuvenation &
togetherness in each member present
 Increased women participation in meetings of new VFAs
 Enhanced confidence of the VFA leaders in organizing
bigger events involving substantial number of
participants
 Significant visibility to the VFAs in each of the village

3. Learning/Shortcoming of the Sports Day
 Each stage of event like planning, organization and summing up of the events like sports
day could be used as the good platforms for sharing information on various aspects.
Plantation initiated in one of the VFA on Sports Day as inauguration of the events;
 VFA and RF need to make contingency plans in the case of exigencies such as rains, huge
turnout of crowd
 Conducting such events more frequently will help in rapport building and as an energizer
 Involving more youth in sports day and also in our larger rural transformation project
Way Forward
Review of the Sports Day organized would be taken up in the
respective VFA meetings to summarize the learning and workout
the follow up plans to organize community level events more
efficiently and effectively. Some clusters decided to conduct such
events at a smaller scale to keep the villager’s energy levels high.
Organize separate meetings for participated youth in the event,
build their interest and involve them actively in VFAs. Identify
more traditional games, document, revive the same and
incorporate in next Sports day.
Testimonials
“We have played games for the first time in our village and people from other villages visited us”
Premchandra, Kachali Khora VFA, Banswara
“Being a teacher, this is my first time to see and experience that a farmer’s association gets
mobilized and organized such a huge important event. We must continue such celebrations”
- Ayadanbhai Rabari, Santhli VFA, Radhanpur
“The sport day has given a wonderful chance to remember the olden days”
- Horilal Dehriya, Seoni
“Today I forgot all my day to day struggle and concerns. I enjoyed a lot”
- Samsingbhai, Chitalda VFA, Netrang
“Earlier, we never witnessed playing games together in village. I am very happy to see the entire
village playing together”
- Madhavi, Pedaputhikavalasa VFA, Rajam
“These types of events should be encouraged as this gives us recognition and opportunity to prove
ourselves”
- Saukari Devi, Khalwa VFA, Rudraprayag

4. Annexure 1: Number of games and types of games
S.No Clusters
Number of
games Type of games
1 Adoni 14
Kabaddi, Running, Long jump, Tug of war, Short put, Volley ball, Cricket,
Rangoli, Musical chairs, Lemon and spoon, Skipping, Ring, Frog jump
and Weight lifting
2 Agar 6
Clay pot (Mattka) race, spoon and lemon race, Rangoli, Tug of War,
Kabbadi and Football
3 Balangir 8
Musical chair, Tug of war, Kabbadi, Foot ball, Balloon phod, Sack race,
Spoon race and Matkha phod
4 Bansawara 10
Kabbadi, Volleyball, Tug of war, Spoon race, musical chair, matka race,
sack race, 100m , high jump and long jump
5 Bidar 10
Kabbadi, Tug of war, running race, cycle race, sack race, rangoli,
skipping, musical chair, lemon race and matka race
6 Deoghar 8
Football, Tug of war, Archery, Matka race, musical chair, Wrong answer
for right question, Jalebi race and spoon race
7 Gadag 8
Tug of war, running race, long jump, rangoli,slow cycle race, sack race,
spoon race and Kho Kho
8 Gangakhed 7
Kabbadi, Wrestling (Kusti), Tug of war, Kho Kho, Musical chair, Spoon
race and rangoli
9 Jamai 4 Volleyball, Kabbadi, tug of war, and Musical chair
10
Jamwa
Ramgarh 6
Kabbadi, Tug of war, Matka race, rangoli, drawing competion and quiz
competition
11 Jasdan 4 Kabbadi, volleyball, tug of war, and spoon race
12 Kamareddy 4 Kabaddi, Musical chair, Tug of War and Rangoli
13 Karaikudi 10
Running race, tug of war, stone lifting,needle and thread, pole climbing,
matka phod, matka race, slow cycle race, kabbadi and rangoli

5. S.No Clusters
Number of
games Type of games
14 Mandla 15
volleyball, kabbadi, tug of war, kho kho, wrestling (khusti), Matkhi phod,
Rangoli, Kurshi daud, Teen tangi, Sui Dhaga daud, Matka daud, Jelabi
race, Biscuit race, Shirt race, Baloon daud and 100 m daud
15 Modasa 4 Tir Kaman (Archery), Matka phod, Lemon race and Tug of war
16 Netrang 6
Tug of war, Horse cart race, Musical chair, patta check, sack race, and
needle race
17 Panna 11
Kabaddi, Surra, Long Jump, High Jump, Volley Ball, Matka Phor, Matka
Dor, Thread and Needle, 100mtr Race, Langra Race and Tug of war
18 Radhanpur 5 Kabbadi, Kho Kho, Musical chair, Spoon race and Tug of war
19 Rajam 6
Sangidi (Weight lifting) , Guntata ( Langdi ) , Tadata ( Rope pulling),
Pikkalata ( Stone throwing) , Kho Kho and Kabbadi
20 Rajnandgaon 8
Kabbadi, Matki Race, and Matki Phod, Rassi Khich, Khursi Daud (Chair
Race), and Cricket
21 Rudrayaprayag 6
Spoon race, Balloon race, Jalebi race, Sack race, Musical chair, and Tug of
war
22
Sawai
Madhopur 6
Rangoli, spoon race, lemon race, matka race, running race, tug of war
and kabbadi
23 Sendhwa 7
Running race, Archery, Kabbadi, Tug of war, Sack race, Spoon race, and
Matka fod
24 Seoni 12
Volley ball, Kabbadi, Rassa kassa, kho- kho, kusti, mathki phod, musical
chair,100 mt race, minute to win it, spoon race, Shaila Nirtya(folk dance)
and Bhajan Mandal
25 Uttarkashi 4 Sack race, Lemon race, needle race, and tug of war
26 Yavatmal 10
Dahihandi, Kabaddi,cricket, Rangoli,Volley ball, Handi phod, Lemon &
spoon, Tug-of-war, Running race and Musical Chair
Total 50 different type of games

6. Annexure: Number of VFAs, participants and Spectators
S.No Clusters
Number of
VFAs
Number of
Participants Number of Spectators
1 Adoni 9 655 1260
2 Agar 23 697 1404
3 Balangir 36 1763 3000
4 Banswara 12 203 1672
5 Bidar 5 650 1500
6 Deoghar 13 557 1458
7 Gadag 10 220 800
8 Gangakhed 17 796 892
9 Jamai 16 320 2400
10 Jamwa Ramgarh 28 129 2578
11 Jasdan 14 795 795
12 Kamareddy 12 252 1050
13 Karaikudi 23 314 764
14 Mandla 23 823 1973
15 Modasa 14 200 2000
16 Netrang 15 435 1231
17 Panna 7 106 586
18 Radhanpur 16 399 886
19 Rajam 13 1413 2400
20 Rajnandgaon 15 646 700
21 Rudraprayag 10 234 620
22 Sawai Madhopur 25 284 1250
23 Sendhwa 8 416 1120
24 Seoni 19 1150 3750
25 Uttarkashi 4 113 150
26 Yavatmal 23 892 3568
Total 410 14462 39807

7. Annexure - Snapshot from Clusters
ADONI
Tug of war at A.Gonehal VFA Running race in progress
AGAR
Kabbadi Matka Race
BALANGIR
Cultural during sports day Balloon phod

8. BANSWARA
Volleyball final match at Mediya Katra Students enjoying Kabbadi in their school
BIDAR
Cycle race among children Weightlifting competition
DEOGHAR
Traditional game of Archery Spoon race

9. GADAG
Kho Kho Relay race
GANGAKHED
Kabbadi Volleyball
JAMAI
Musical Chair Medical treatment

10. JAMWA RAMGARH
Huge participation for Sports day Matkha race
JASDAN
Kabbadi Inaugural of sports day
KAMAREDDY
Happy moments - Vandirkal VFA members Spectators interestingly watching Kabaddi
game with their trophy and awards

11. KARAIKUDI
Breaking the plot Pole climbing competition
MANDLA
Volleyball Kabbadi
MODASA
Explaining geohydrology map of the village to villagers Oath for bringing change

12. NETRANG
Patta Check Old Women playing with full energy
PANNA
High Jump Running race
RADHANPUR
Special guest addressing the gathering Spoon race

13. RAJAM
Traditional weight lifting competition Tug of war
RAJNANDGAON
Rasssi Khinch Kabbadi
RUDRAPRAYAG
Spoon race for school children Tug of war

14. SAWAI MADHOPUR
Inauguration of Sports day
SENDHWA
Spoon race Archery
SEONI
Shaila Nirtya/Folk dance Matkhi Phod

15. UTTARKASHI
Spoon race Sack race
YAVATMAL
Volleyball Tug of war