(The Champions Kabbadi League (CKL) was established to promote the game of Kabaddi, protect the interests of its players and coaches, and to encourage competitive spirit in a friendly environment without the use of performance enhancement drugs.)
The Game: Kabaddi is often described as a combination of English rugby and Greco-Roman style wrestling. In fact, it’s quiet a unique sport, which requires the precision of archery, strategy of chess and the power of gladiators. The game is played with utmost enthusiasm on the entire Indian subcontinent; however, the circle style Kabaddi is more popular among Punjabis of India, Pakistan and the Punjabi Diaspora. In Canada, there are several Kabaddi Federations and each year they hold numerous tournaments in all major cities. The longest running Kabaddi tournament of the Khalsa Diwan Society of Ross Street Sikh Temple Vancouver will hold its 46th continuous yearly event in 2016. A decade ago, the British Columbia government recognized Kabaddi as an amateur sport and gave a quarter million dollar grant to help build the first Kabaddi stadium in Canada. Unfortunately, the City of Surrey only built a stadium with 1400 seats. Needless to say, the crowds of over four to five thousand spectators at every tournament found it little inconvenient where more than two-third managed to watch the game by either sitting on the grass or standing around the circle. The Champions League had approached the government to increase its capacity and the government of BC has responded affirmatively with a promise to increase the seating to 7,000 level. This would be the first and largest Kabaddi stadium anywhere in the world.