Tamil Nadu Amateur Kabaddi Association- setting new benchmarks in the Indian Kabaddi ecosystem

Kabaddi in Tamil Nadu has always been one of those games that belongs to them and people go crazy even for a small tournament that happens in their neighborhood and come in huge numbers just to watch the sport. People are very passionate about Kabaddi in the state and the players are always used to performing in front of huge crowds which makes them perform better under pressure.

Tamil Nadu Amateur Kabaddi Association- the state association of TN is one of those associations that has a great reputation in terms of the structure and transparency in organizing a tournament. Fixtures are created using a new and transparent method where all teams are given a fair chance to showcase their skills. Talking about the structure, it's great to see that they have a very well executed process of weighing players where all players team wise is asked to produce a government issued Identity card and also their Photos in the registration form along with players jersey number and this process is done very cleanly without any mess which is very good way to standardize a tournament and for the betterment of the game.

A lot of this credit should go the Mr. Saffiulla, Secretary of TNAKA, who makes sure these things are in place and is very particular about structure and standard which he wants to maintain. We at Kabaddi Adda got a chance to interact with Mr.Saffi and we understood that he wants to make sure the sport grows in the state in terms of player quality, officials quality and overall quality of Kabaddi. He also said that there are many talented players from different districts of TN and its the association's duty to give a competitive platform to the players where they can showcase their skills and go on to the next level. Mr. Saffiulla is often seen talking to players about discipline, punctuality and how the players should be very grateful to their coaches and gurus which will make them grow not just as an athlete but also as a person in all walks of life. Under Mr. Saffiulla's guidance Tamil Nadu team has won a number of medals and have shined in terms of performance in the national level tournaments over the last few years.

Another important person responsible for the smooth conduct of all TNAKA tournaments is Mr. Gopalan, Convenor of the Referee's board. Mr. Gopalan is someone who on the ground at all times during a tournament and runs the show for TNAKA on the mat. He makes sure all teams are present for the games on time and will be on the microphone at all times to ensure the matches are completed on-time and a lot more on the operations side of the tournament. Along with Mr. Gopalan, another person who gives it his all is Mr. Kumerasan who is often seen officiating during PKL and is responsible for managing the referees, schedule, results, points table and also can be seen officiating in few games. Kumeresan's experience as a referee at PKL level makes him an important asset for TNAKA where a lot of other referees can learn a lot from people like him to execute decisions on the mat during a game.

All in all, TNAKA is one of those associations that thrives on structure and standard to make sure the players get the best of opportunity to express themselves and move ahead in their game. By this we can say that TNAKA has set new benchmarks in the Kabaddi ecosystem of India.

Next TNAKA is all set to organize All India Men and Women Kabaddi Championship in Kanyakumari from 27th December to 29th December 2019 which marks the last tournament of the year for TN. This tournament will see teams like Air India, Mahindra & Mahindra and other department teams battle it out for the title.