Anantapur Sports Academy (ASA) believes in the potential of sport to bring communities together, particularly those among the underprivileged, and this laid the foundation for organising sports festivals. ASA started with the maiden “Rural Kabaddi Festival” in the early 1980s and kabaddi was chosen as it is an indigenous sport in India and was popular with the masses, particularly in the rural regions covering a diverse demographic.
Encouraging the same sport in 2019 though the “Rural Kabaddi Festival 2019” ASA is reaching out to 5,532 children divided into 461 teams (265 boys teams, 196 girls teams) from 461 schools spread across 8 regions of Andhra Pradesh. The festival, which is divided into area level, regional level, and central level, started on 17 July will continue to 29 August 2019.