“We’ve played it for a long time, but only recreationally. Nothing to this level of sort, nothing competitively,” said Team Rudra captain Shourya Jain.
What might look like an intense game of tag is actually the ancient Indian game of Kho Kho.
“I’ve been playing this probably since I was six or something because my sister used to be captain, my dad was a captain,” said Team Durga captain Ayudhree Pitre.
What is Kho Kho?
With roots tracing back nearly 4,000 years to the war of Mahabharata, Kho Kho is a game modeled after ancient maze tactics, requiring speed, agility, focus and strategy.
“This game I knew back in India when I was growing up. So we used to play this a lot,” said Kho Kho Chicago Premier League organizer Madhuri Gadre. “This game actually gives you the benefits of doing exercises. Also, it builds leadership skills in you because this is a sport you cannot play without the support of each other.”
- The setup: Nine players on the chasing team line up crouched in alternating directions down a central line with two feet between each player. Defenders enter the field in batches of three.
- The gameplay: Once a defender is tagged, they are immediately replaced by a new defender. Chasers must tag them out while adhering to strict direction rules – they cannot change direction once they choose to run right or left, and they cannot cross the central divider without looping around an endpole first. Defenders are free to move anywhere to avoid being tagged.
- The “Kho”: To swap active taggers, a player must tap a crouching teammate’s back and yell “Koh!”
- The goal: Teams trade off three-minute rounds chasing and defending – the team with the most tags wins.
Keeping kids active and connected through their local Shakhas
Teenagers from across Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin gathered in Naperville for the second-annual Kho Kho Chicago Premier League Championship. The local chapter of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) hosted the ten-team tournament as a way to keep kids active and connected.
“It’s summer. Instead of them sitting in front of the screen. This was a great way of engaging them and more importantly, the bonds were created. There’s a lot of friendship from last year. They connected with other kids from other chapters,” said Kho Kho Chicago Premier League organizer Lakshmy Ganesh.
“For some of these other people, like a lot of the people on my team, I think only a few of them, they have some background, but the rest we have introduced them to Kho, which is a really fun experience for them because now they also really enjoy the game,” said Pitre.
“The best part of this game is you can play this game basically anywhere in your backyard, in your parking lot, in your school, wherever you want to play this, this game is possible. You can play this games with girls. As you can see, every team has girls and guys, so there is no segregation, and you can play this game with all age groups. So this one thing that came about from that war 4000 years ago is now a game of strategies, which involves everyone. So it’s very inclusive,” said Kho Kho Chicago Premier League organizer Shishir Shetty.
Last year’s event had 60 participants, with this year’s championship expanding to 100 teenage players.
“This is a sincere effort to bring 100 teenagers together and show that such a beautiful thing can happen in Naperville, which is, by the way, the mothership of all the good activities in the area,” said Shetty.
Training leads to championship performance
Despite its simple premise, these teams have been preparing for weeks, including squat-to -sprint drills, rapid-reaction passes, and directional juking.
In the end, Team Prahalad, a joint squad from Aurora and Naperville, claimed first in the championship, holding off Team Ashva from Buffalo Grove in the finals. While a trophy served as a motivator to play their best, players say the real prize was the sense of community.
“Competitiveness is fine, but at the end of the day, we’re just here as a rainbow with all the colors and we’re just here in unity, and it just makes us all come together and share all of the game of Kho Kho,” said Jain.
For Naperville Community Television, I’m Justin Cornwell.