A walkathon (walk-a-thon), walking marathon or sponsored walk is a type of community or school fundraiser in which participants raise money by collecting donations or pledges for walking a predetermined distance or course. They are similar in format to other physical activity based fundraising events such as marathons and cycling races, but are usually non-competitive and lower intensity. The low intensity model is ideal for mobilizing broad-based community support, and as a result Walkathons usually target participants from a wide range of ages and economic backgrounds.

 Cycling,^[1] also known as bicycling^[2] or biking,^[3] is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world for purposes including transport, recreation, exercise, and competitive sport.

kabaddi, game played between two teams

 kabaddi, game played between two teams on opposite halves of a field or court. Individual players take turns crossing onto the other team’s side, repeating “kabaddi, kabaddi” (or an alternate chant); points are scored by tagging as many opponents as possible without being caught or taking a breath before returning to one’s home territory. Indigenous to South Asia, kabaddi is also known as hu-tu-tu in western India, ha-do-do in eastern India and Bangladesh, chedu-gudu in southern India, gudu in Sri Lanka, and theechub in Thailand.

It has been speculated that the game originated in prehistoric times, when the development of human reflexes was crucial for self-defense and hunting. The ancient Indian epic poem Mahabharata, in its account of the legendary battles of Kurukshetra, tells of a military operation—a doomed raid by Arjuna’s son, Abhimanyu, on an enemy camp—that has been noted for its resemblance to kabaddi. For many years kabaddi was played for physical exercise by pupils in Indian gurukuls (Vedic schools run by gurus). Though minor variations emerged, the game’s principal objective of raiding the enemy territory remained common.

The basic rules of kabaddi were formalized in India in the early 20th century and published in 1923. The game received international exposure when it was demonstrated by an Amravati-based sports organization at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, and it was included as an event in the Indian Olympic Games held in Calcutta (now Kolkata) two years later. Following its formation in 1950, the Kabaddi Federation of India organized national championships for men beginning in 1952 and for women beginning in 1955. In the late 20th century the popularity of organized kabaddi began to expand beyond India’s borders, in part through the efforts of the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India, formed in 1972. That same year kabaddi was designated the national game of Bangladesh. With the establishment in 1978 of the Asian Amateur Kabaddi Federation, a regional championship was organized, and national kabaddi teams began to compete in the Asian Games in 1990.

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By the early 21st century international competition typically involved seven players per team performing on a rectangular court, although other styles (such as “circular” kabaddi) remained popular in India and elsewhere. The first Kabaddi World Cup, staged in Mumbai (Bombay) in 2004, hosted national teams from Asia, Europe, and North America.

kho-kho, traditional Indian sport

 kho-kho, traditional Indian sport, a form of tag, that is one of the oldest forms of outdoor sport, dating back to prehistoric India.

The kho-kho playing field—which can be placed on any suitable indoor or outdoor surface—is a rectangle 29 metres (32 yards) long and 16 metres (17 yards) wide with a vertical wooden post at either end of the field. Each kho-kho team consists of 12 players, but during a contest only 9 players from each team take the field. A match consists of two innings. In an innings, each team gets seven minutes for chasing and seven for defending. Eight members of the chasing team sit in eight squares in the central lane of the field, alternating in the direction they face. The ninth member is the active chaser (sometimes referred to as the attacker), who begins his pursuit at either of the posts. The active chaser “knocks out” an opponent by touching that person with the palm of the hand. The defenders (also called runners) try to play out the seven minutes, avoiding being touched by the chaser while not moving out of the field’s boundaries. Runners enter the chase area (known as the rectangle) in batches of three. As the third runner leaves, the next batch of three must enter the rectangle. Runners are declared “out” when either they are touched by the active chaser, they drift out of the rectangle, or they enter the rectangle late. The active chaser can get any chasing-team member, sitting crouched in one of the squares in the centre of the field, to take over and continue the chase by tapping him on the back with the palm and saying “kho” loudly. The chase is built up through a series of “khos” as the chasers continue their pursuit in a relay manner.

The first kho-kho tournaments were organized in 1914, and the first national championship was held in 1959 at Vijayawada under the auspices of the Kho-kho Federation of India (KKFI), which was formed in 1955. Ever since, the KKFI has made great efforts to popularize the game, which is now played across India at various levels, from schools to the national team. Kho-kho was included as a demonstration sport at the Berlin 1936 Olympic Games and at the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1987. It was during the SAF Games that the Asian Kho-kho Federation was formed, which later helped popularize kho-kho in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

Snooker is a cue sport played on a rectangular billiards table

 Snooker (pronounced UK: /ˈsnuːkər/ SNOO-kər, US: /ˈsnʊkər/ SNUUK-ər)^[1][2] is a cue sport played on a rectangular billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets: one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in India in the second half of the 19th century, the game is played with 22 balls, comprising a white cue ball, 15 red balls and six other balls—a yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black—collectively called 'the colours'. Using a snooker cue, the individual players or teams take turns to strike the cue ball to pot other balls in a predefined sequence, accumulating points for each successful pot and for each foul committed by the opposing player or team. An individual frame of snooker is won by the player who has scored the most points, and a snooker match ends when a player wins a predetermined number of frames.

In 1875, army officer Neville Chamberlain, stationed in India, devised a set of rules that combined black pool and pyramids. The word snooker was a well-established derogatory term used to describe inexperienced or first-year military personnel. In the early 20th century, snooker was predominantly played in the United Kingdom, where it was considered a "gentleman's sport" until the early 1960s before growing in popularity as a national pastime and eventually spreading overseas. The standard rules of the game were first established in 1919 when the Billiards Association and Control Club was formed. As a professional sport, snooker is now governed by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.

The World Snooker Championship first took place in 1927, and Joe Davis—a key figure and pioneer in the early growth of the sport—won fifteen successive world championships between 1927 and 1946. The "modern era" of snooker began in 1969 after the broadcaster BBC commissioned the television series Pot Black, later airing daily coverage of the World Championship which was first televised in 1978. The most prominent players of the modern era are Ray Reardon (1970s), Steve Davis (1980s) and Stephen Hendry (1990s), each winning at least six world titles. Since 2000, Ronnie O'Sullivan has won the World Championship seven times, most recently in 2022.

Top professional players compete in regular tournaments around the world, earning millions of pounds on the World Snooker Tour—a circuit of international events featuring competitors of many different nationalities. The World Championship, the UK Championship and the Masters together make up the Triple Crown Series and are considered by many players to be the most highly valued titles. The main professional tour is open to both male and female players, and there is a separate women's tour organised by World Women's Snooker. Competitive snooker is also available to non-professional players, including seniors and people with disabilities. The popularity of snooker has led to the creation of many variations based on the standard game but with different rules or equipment, including six-red snooker, the short-lived "snooker plus" and the more recent Snooker Shoot Out version.

History

 Carrom is an easy-to-play multiplayer board game. Pot all your pieces before your opponent. Can you become the best at this Carrom Board game ?

With simple gameplay, smooth controls and great physics, travel around the world and play against worthy opponents. Are you up for the challenge?

Volleyball is a team sport

 Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.^[1] It has been a part of the official program of the Summer Olympic Games since Tokyo 1964. Beach volleyball was introduced to the program at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics. The adapted version of volleyball at the Summer Paralympic Games is sitting volleyball.

The complete set of rules is extensive,^[2] but play essentially proceeds as follows: a player on one of the teams begins a 'rally' by serving the ball (tossing or releasing it and then hitting it with a hand or arm), from behind the back boundary line of the court, over the net, and into the receiving team's court.^[3] The receiving team must not let the ball be grounded within their court. The team may touch the ball up to three times to return the ball to the other side of the court, but individual players may not touch the ball twice consecutively.^[3] Typically, the first two touches are used to set up for an attack. An attack is an attempt to direct the ball back over the net in such a way that the team receiving the ball is unable to pass the ball and continue the rally, thus, losing the point. The team that wins the rally is awarded a point and serves the ball to start the next rally. A few of the most common faults include:

• causing the ball to touch the ground or floor outside the opponents' court or without first passing over the net;
• catching and throwing the ball;
• double hit: two consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same player;
• four consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same team;
• net foul: touching the net during play;
• foot fault: the foot crosses over the boundary line when serving or under the net when a front row player is trying to keep the ball in play.

The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push (short contact) the ball with any part of the body.^[4]

A number of consistent techniques have evolved in volleyball, including spiking and blocking (because those plays are made above the top of the net, the vertical jump is an athletic skill emphasized in the sport) as well as passing, setting, and specialized player positions. Offensive and defensive structures are also key plays.^[5]

Football is a family of team sports

 Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word football generally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly called football include association football (known as soccer in Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United States, and sometimes in Ireland and New Zealand); Australian rules football; Gaelic football; gridiron football (specifically American football, arena football, or Canadian football); International rules football; rugby league football; and rugby union football.^[1] These various forms of football share, to varying degrees, common origins and are known as "football codes".

There are a number of references to traditional, ancient, or prehistoric ball games played in many different parts of the world.^[2][3][4] Contemporary codes of football can be traced back to the codification of these games at English public schools during the 19th century, itself an outgrowth of medieval football.^[5][6] The expansion and cultural power of the British Empire allowed these rules of football to spread to areas of British influence outside the directly controlled empire.^[7] By the end of the 19th century, distinct regional codes were already developing: Gaelic football, for example, deliberately incorporated the rules of local traditional football games in order to maintain their heritage.^[8] In 1888, the Football League was founded in England, becoming the first of many professional football associations. During the 20th century, several of the various kinds of football grew to become some of the most popular team sports in the world.^[9]

Common elements

The action of kicking in (clockwise from upper left) association, gridiron, rugby, and Australian football

The various codes of football share certain common elements and can be grouped into two main classes of football: carrying codes like American football, Canadian football, Australian football, rugby union and rugby league, where the ball is moved about the field while being held in the hands or thrown, and kicking codes such as association football and Gaelic football, where the ball is moved primarily with the feet, and where handling is strictly limited.^[10]

Common rules among the sports include:^[11]

• Two teams usually have between 11 and 18 players; some variations that have fewer players (five or more per team) are also popular.^[12]
• A clearly defined area in which to play the game.
• Scoring goals or points by moving the ball to an opposing team's end of the field and either into a goal area, or over a line.
• Goals or points resulting from players putting the ball between two goalposts.
• The goal or line being defended by the opposing team.
• Players using only their body to move the ball, i.e. no additional equipment such as bats or sticks.

In all codes, common skills include passing, tackling, evasion of tackles, catching and kicking.^[10] In most codes, there are rules restricting the movement of players offside, and players scoring a goal must put the ball either under or over a crossbar between the goalposts.

Etymology

Main article: Football (word)

There are conflicting explanations of the origin of the word "football". It is widely assumed that the word "football" (or the phrase "foot ball") refers to the action of the foot kicking a ball.^[13] There is an alternative explanation, which is that football originally referred to a variety of games in medieval Europe that were played on foot.^[14] There is no conclusive evidence for either explanation.

Early history

Ancient games

See also: Episkyros and Cuju

Ancient China

Emperor Taizu of Song playing cuju (Chinese football) with his prime minister Zhao Pu (趙普) and other ministers, by Yuan dynasty artist Qian Xuan (1235–1305)

The Chinese competitive game cuju is an early type of ball game where feet were used, in some aspects resembling modern association football. It was possibly played around the Han dynasty and early Qin dynasty, based on an attestation in a military manual from around the second to third centuries BC.^[15][16][17] In one version, gameplay consisted of players passing the ball between teammates without allowing it to touch the ground (much like keepie uppie). In its competitive version, two teams had to pass the ball without it falling, before kicking the ball through a circular hole placed in the middle of the pitch. Unlike association football, the two teams did not interact with each other but instead stayed on opposite sides of the pitch.^[18] Cuju has been cited by FIFA as the earliest form of football.^[4]
The Japanese version of cuju is kemari (蹴鞠), and was developed during the Asuka period.^[19] This is known to have been played within the Japanese imperial court in Kyoto from about 600 AD. In kemari, several people stand in a circle and kick a ball to each other, trying not to let the ball drop to the ground. The Silk Road facilitated the transmission of cuju, especially the game popular in the Tang dynasty, the period when the inflatable ball was invented and replaced the stuffed ball.^[20]

An ancient Roman tombstone of a boy with a Harpastum ball from Tilurium (modern Sinj, Croatia)

Ancient Greece and Rome

The Ancient Greeks and Romans are known to have played many ball games, some of which involved the use of the feet. The Roman game harpastum is believed to have been adapted from a Greek team game known as ἐπίσκυρος (episkyros)^[21][22] or φαινίνδα (phaininda),^[23] which is mentioned by a Greek playwright, Antiphanes (388–311 BC) and later referred to by the Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215 AD). These games appear to have resembled rugby football.^{[24][25][26][27][28]} The Roman politician Cicero (106–43 BC) describes the case of a man who was killed whilst having a shave when a ball was kicked into a barber's shop. Roman ball games already knew the air-filled ball, the follis.^[29][30] Episkyros is described as an early form of football by FIFA.^[31]

Native Americans

There are a number of references to traditional, ancient, or prehistoric ball games, played by indigenous peoples in many different parts of the world. For example, in 1586, men from a ship commanded by an English explorer named John Davis went ashore to play a form of football with Inuit in Greenland.^[32] There are later accounts of an Inuit game played on ice, called Aqsaqtuk. Each match began with two teams facing each other in parallel lines, before attempting to kick the ball through each other team's line and then at a goal. In 1610, William Strachey, a colonist at Jamestown, Virginia recorded a game played by Native Americans, called Pahsaheman.^{[citation needed]} Pasuckuakohowog, a game similar to modern-day association football played amongst Amerindians, was also reported as early as the 17th century.

Games played in Mesoamerica with rubber balls by indigenous peoples are also well-documented as existing since before this time, but these had more similarities to basketball or volleyball, and no links have been found between such games and modern football sports. Northeastern American Indians, especially the Iroquois Confederation, played a game which made use of net racquets to throw and catch a small ball; however, although it is a ball-goal foot game, lacrosse (as its modern descendant is called) is likewise not usually classed as a form of "football".^{[citation needed]}

Oceania

On the Australian continent several tribes of indigenous people played kicking and catching games with stuffed balls which have been generalised by historians as Marn Grook (Djab Wurrung for "game ball"). The earliest historical account is an anecdote from the 1878 book by Robert Brough-Smyth, The Aborigines of Victoria, in which a man called Richard Thomas is quoted as saying, in about 1841 in Victoria, Australia, that he had witnessed Aboriginal people playing the game: "Mr Thomas describes how the foremost player will drop kick a ball made from the skin of a possum and how other players leap into the air in order to catch it." Some historians have theorised that Marn Grook was one of the origins of Australian rules football.

The Māori in New Zealand played a game called Kī-o-rahi consisting of teams of seven players play on a circular field divided into zones, and score points by touching the 'pou' (boundary markers) and hitting a central 'tupu' or target.^{[citation needed]}

These games and others may well go far back into antiquity. However, the main sources of modern football codes appear to lie in western Europe, especially England.

Turkic peoples

Mahmud al-Kashgari in his Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, described a game called tepuk among Turks in Central Asia. In the game, people try to attack each other's castle by kicking a ball made of sheep leather.^[33]