What is the name of an international sport which is played in every corner of Bangladesh? Yes, you are very right, it’s football which is known and played by almost everyone (especially men) in our beloved country. I grew up in a village of Bangladesh and the memory is still vivid in my mind that we sometimes even played football using citron (large round fruit similar to lemon) as football. I’m sure everyone who has had the opportunity to be raised in villages of Bangladesh had the fantastic experience of playing football using citron as football at least for one time in the entire boyhood. We grew up playing football in villages that time. That was our major sport in our village and I believe in 70s and 80s that was the major sport for boys everywhere in Bangladesh, especially in villages. How one can get benefitted by playing football? Well, science will say a number of things, such as:
It increases aerobic capacity and cardiovascular health
It lowers body fat and improves muscle tone
It builds strength, flexibility and endurance
It increases muscle and bone strength
It improves health due to shifts between walking, running and sprinting.
Besides, there are a number of social and professional benefits as well:
It teaches us team work.
It teaches us to focus.
It helps us strengthen social bonding.
It helps us meet new people.
But the question is, did we ever play football in all the villages of Bangladesh knowing the cardiovascular and social benefits? Of course, not! We played football as our major sport that time because our forefathers used to play it, it was the most popular sport, it was an easy to understand, fun to play sport and comparatively cheaper sport to afford. Football can literally be played anywhere. That was one of the reasons for football to become so popular in villages. After the harvest, all the paddy fields were used for playing football in the Winter or Summer afternoon. The then it was such an accessible and enjoyable sport that no other sport could beat it. All we needed was a ball and a few players and that’s it! Most of the time there were not twenty two players to fill the both teams. In school days, we frequently played five-a-side team (four outfield players and a goalkeeper) or seven-a-side team. Playing football was a mandatory part of our daily life at that time. A day without playing football was a day wasted was the feeling that time in our boyhood. Even in heavy rainfall, we used to play football and that was rather more fun to play football while it was downpouring.
Football is actually one of the simple games in the world. Even there is a set of rules and regulations but as the basic rule is very simple, it can be understood and played by anyone. It is an intense and action packed game. Since the game is restricted to just 90 minutes, there is always something going in every second of the match. And that is the beauty and attraction of football. Every aspect of the game is fascinating and this even includes the art of defending. Fans all over the world clearly see football more than just a game. And we can literally feel it right now as FIFA world cup 2018 is going on. Football enjoys and includes a fanbase that seems to go beyond various divisions like race, language, age, and gender. As a result, it is truly the universal sport which can make the entire world busy watching it for an entire month. No other sport has got the power to do it, for sure.
Now my point is, last two decades, while visiting my village or other villages in Bangladesh, I noticed this all time favourite and popular sport football was not that much popular anymore and was not played everywhere like before. There is a new trend in Bangladesh mainly last three decades to play cricket which is very praiseworthy and cricket has for sure taken Bangladesh to a new height worldwide. Hats off to our cricketers and promoters! Simultaneously I just like to humbly remind, let’s not forget our hundred or two hundred year old favourite sport which used to be played by our ancestors, which used to be our most popular sport, which can easily be understood and played everywhere in the country and last but not the least, which can still take us to world class height once promoted. Promoting football has got a cross cutting benefits. From youngsters to youth in all 87,000 villages of Bangladesh, once get involved in playing football will greatly help them grow up with sound mental and physical health and thus the country will greatly be benefited at the end of the day. Hope present government as well as football federation of Bangladesh will seriously consider promoting football at the grass root level of the country.
(Published in The Daily Sun, Dhaka on 2nd July, 2018)
