Pro Kabaddi League Season 6: Tamil Thalaivas announce unique partnership for India's first Kabaddi residential academy

Announcing a monumental step forward in the grassroot development of the sport of Kabaddi, Tamil Thalaivas announced trials for the country’s first ever private residential academy, dedicated to the sport of Kabaddi.

The academy, a partnership between Tamil Thalaivas and Jeppiaar Educational Trust, will commence its first batch starting July 2018.

The academy, to be located in Jeppiaar Engineering College, Chennai, will be home to 80 of the most promising Kabaddi talents from across the region. The athletes will be provided with free training by the Tamil Thalaivas coaching staff. Indian Kabaddi coaching legend Kasinatha Baskaran is the technical director of the program and will oversee the training along with his team in Year 1.

Admissions to the academy will be based solely on merit, and as identified by the Tamil Thalaivas coaching staff. The academy management has identified over 1500 potential candidates through a scouting hunt, that commenced in the last week of May 2018.

The selection will culminate in an Open Trial session, to be held from June 8th to June 10th, 2018 at the Jeppiaar Engineering College, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Chennai. Additionally, candidates who are unable to attend the local scouting sessions, can attend the open trial and apply to be one of the 80 inductees of this program.

Enrolled boys and girls, in the age group of U-17, U-19 and U-25, will receive free education, housing and guidance on their health and fitness by a dietician-specified nutrition plan during the program.

They will have full access to a state-of-the-art Gymnasium and new age Kabaddi mat practice halls at the campus. Through the fully-residential academy, the students will have access to a free-of-cost, state-defined educational qualification with an option to pursue any academic discipline of their choice as per their eligibility.

Talking about the vision behind the first ever Kabaddi Residential Academy, Viren D’Silva, CEO, Tamil Thalaivas shared, “The biggest motivation for us to start a residential academy is the enormous untapped Kabaddi talent in the country which is seeking guidance and know-how to pursue the sport as a career. At Tamil Thalaivas, we are committed to the development of the sport at all levels and will be providing every talented child the opportunity to learn and eventually become a professional Kabaddi player through this academy. The students at the academy will form part of our youth teams with the prospect of being a part of the Pro Kabaddi League and hopefully, in the future, the Indian Kabaddi Team. We thank the Jeppiar Educational Trust for partnering with us on this unique initiative.”

Adding to Mr. D’Silva’s comments, Chairperson of Jeppiaar Educational Trust, Dr. M. Regeena Jeppiaar said, “We are glad to have partnered with Tamil Thalaivas to promote the development of a sport like Kabaddi, which finds its roots in the state of Tamil Nadu. Kabaddi has a very large historical significance with the state and in order to empower young Kabaddi talent, this is a vison we are very proud to be associated with. We look forward to housing India’s best Kabaddi talent at our premises and be a part of this developmental project.”