Americans like to think they can dominate at all sports, but on Friday students met their match.
A Pakistan native gathered students to teach a game called Kabaddi, which originated in India.
Shah Hassan found ULM through a Pakistani organization and started a group on Facebook called “For Americans with Love.”
He is part of ULM’s culture-exchange program for this semester and offered to teach the game of Kabaddi to all who were interested.
“I’m focused on meeting different people, traveling and playing Pakistani and American games,” Hassan said.
In the game, Hassan divided students into two teams. Each team consisted of 13 members and divided the playing field with a line in the middle.
One person from each team crossed the line saying repeatedly “kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi” or held their breath until touching the opposing team.
Kabaddi is a term that can be traslated to mean “holding hands.”
Once touching the opposing team, the person had to run back to his or her team’s side without being captured.
In the game, Hassan served as one team captain and senior management major Md Omey led the second team.
Omey’s team won the game 20-17 after he scored the winning point by breaking free of the opponents.
Omey is from Bangladesh and said the game is played in the villages of his homeland.
He said, “It was really fun, and we taught the Americans who were pretty good, better than us.”
Quincy Jones, a freshman computer information systems major, said, “It difficult at first because of the new rules, but once I learned it was a lot of fun.”
Elie Felix, a junior elementary education major, said, “It was fun, intense and exactly what a game should be.”
Felix said it was her first time playing the game, but said she definitely will play again.
Mason Word, a freshman computer science major, said, “The one time they tackled me, I fell back on somebody so I had cushion which was nice.”
Hassan said, “It was really successful, and I think the people enjoyed it.”
Hassan plans to do more international sporting events on campus.
