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Rules and Gender Bias in Sports

The rules of any game ensure, that there is fair play in the game. The following concept will introduce the learners to rules of play, ground, pitch, etc. This concept will also help the students to know about gender bias in sports.

After reading the concept, students will be able to:

Summarise any 5 rules of kabaddi.
Differentiate between the rules of football and the rules of hockey in India.
Understand the rules and regulations of cricket.
Define what is gender bias.
Recall the role of women in sports.

Each concept is explained to class 4 students using descriptions, illustrations, and concept maps. After you go through a concept, assess your learning by solving the two printable worksheets given at the end of the page.

Download the worksheets and check your answers with the worksheet solutions for the concept Rules and Gender Bias in Sports provided in PDF format.

Every game has its own rules. The players participating in a game always ensure that every rule is followed.
Games cannot be played fairly and properly without rules.
A set of rules prescribed for each game ensures no issues among the players after the game begins.
This is why players get penalised when they do not follow the rules.
Umpires and referees are appointed to control the whole sporting event and see that the players obey the rules.

1.Rules in Kabaddi:

Kabaddi is an outdoor team sport that requires stamina and good mental and physical skills.
This game is played for forty minutes with a five to ten minutes break in the middle.
Kabaddi is played on a court measuring 10 metres with a dividing line in the middle.
The two identical halves of the court are the actual playing area assigned to two teams.
Kabaddi courts are dug one-foot deep and filled in with sand, so the players do not get injured.

a) Play Duration:

This game is played in two halves for twenty minutes each.
In the case of children and women, the time reduces to fifteen minutes’ duration.
When the first half is over, all the team members can rest for five minutes.

b) Teams:

Though each team can have twelve players, only seven players are allowed on the court.
The rest of the five players do not participate in the game.
Only the leader can command the players during the play.

c) Winner:

When the game ends, the team that scores the most points is declared the winner.
When it is a tie situation, each team gets five more minutes to play.
If there is still a tie situation, the team that scores first is declared the winner.

d) Raids:

Each team sends one player to raid the members of the other team in their court.
The raider starts from the centre line uttering ‘kabaddi kabaddi’ without a break.
He runs from one side to another in the opponent’s court, tries to touch their hands or legs, and then comes back to his court through the centre line.
His team will score four points if he touches four players during the raid.
When players raid the opponent’s court, the objective of the opponent players is different.
They all try to trap and catch him without letting him return through the centre line.
If the raider loses his chanting breath, he is considered out.
When one team makes all the players of their opponent team out, they score two points as a bonus.

2. Rules in Cricket:

A cricket match is played between two teams.
Cricket matches are of different formats—test matches, ODIs (one-day international) and T20s.
Usually, cricket matches are played in innings, and for each innings, each team takes its turn to bat.
The game starts with a toss; the winning team decides if they want to proceed with batting or fielding.

a) Equipment:

Ball, bat, wickets with stumps and bails, and protective gear like helmets, gloves and pads are required in this game.

b) Field:

Cricket is played on oval fields with boundary lines. A cricket field consists of the following parts:

Pitch: Cricket is played on the central strip of the oval field, which is situated between the wickets. A pitch is 22 yards long.
Wickets: These are wooden structures made up of three stumps and two bails placed at both ends of the pitch.
Batting Crease or Popping Crease, Bowling Crease or Return Crease:
- The batting crease or the popping crease is the line that is present1.22 metres in front of the stump.
- The batsman should keep the bat or one foot here to avoid being stumped or run out.
- The bowling crease or return crease lies perpendicular to the batting crease.
- A bowler, while delivering the ball, should land his back foot within the return crease to avoid no-ball.

c) Teams:

Each team have eleven players.
The batting team bats in an innings to score runs.
The fielding team bowls to get the members of the batting team out.
The team that scores the highest runs win the match.
A batter can be a striker or a non-striker, depending on whether he is batting.
Bowlers, wicket-keepers and fielders do fielding.
Umpires take decisions regarding the events on the field during the game.

d) Scoring Runs and Getting Out Rules:

The striker hits the ball with his bat to score runs when the bowler bowls.
When the ball remains inside the pitch, the striker and the non-striker cross each other, and for each crossing, they score one run.
When the ball crosses the boundary line and rolls outside the field, the batsmen do not cross each other and score four runs.
When the ball flies outside the field, batsmen do not cross each other and score six runs.
A team does not score runs when the ball goes to the wicket-keeper, or the strikers do not cross each other.
The striker gets out when the ball hits the stump, or any fielder catches the ball before it lands on the ground.
Run-out is a condition when the batsmen cross each other, but before reaching the batting crease, the wicket-keeper hits the ball with the stumps.
LBW or Leg before a wicket is a condition when the striker does not hit the ball with his bat; instead,the ball hits the stump or hits the striker.

3.Rules in Hockey:

Field hockey is a game that is played with balls and sticks on the field.
Usually, a hockey field is 100 metres long and 60 metres wide.
The field has two goal posts on either side.
The field has four twenty-three metres wide equal quarters.
A hockey team has fourteen members. One team attacks the other team’s defence to score goals.
In this game, all the players remain in positions.
During the game, out of twenty-two players, eleven players take positions at two halves (considering from the goal post to the centre) of the field. The rest eleven players take positions at the other two halves of the field.
The following picture gives an idea about the positions—
All forward and inner players are the attackers.
Players are penalised for the following situations—
- Foot touching the ball.
- Lifting the ball too high.
- The ball touches the curved side of the stick.
- More than eleven players playing on the field.
- When a player is less than five metres away from the opponent who is taking the penalty.

4.Rules in Football:

A football match is played on an artificial or natural rectangular grass field.
The grass field has two boundary lines and two goal lines.
The match is played between two opposing teams with ten players and one goalkeeper.
If needed, the teams can use three substitute players.
The players wear the same jerseys and the goalkeepers wear a distinguishable coloured jersey.

a) Roles of the Referee:

The head referee enforces the game's rules, and their decision is considered final.
The referees ensure that all the players are playing with proper equipment.
They punish the players for rule violations.
Referees signal kick-offs and the end of the game.

b) Rules of Yellow Cards:

The referee shows one yellow card to prevent repeated rule-breaking and displaying unsportsmanlike behaviour.
Showing two yellow cards is equivalent to a red card.
After receiving a red card, the player has to leave the field.

c) Role of the Assistant Referee:

They help the head referee and signal if a player is playing offside.
They decide which team is entitled to a goal kick, throw-in or corner kick.
They check whether the ball crosses the line during a penalty kick.

d) Scoring Rules:

Teams can score goals when the ball crosses the goal line under the crossbar and between the goalposts.
The team that scores the most goals wins the match.
The match duration in football is two halves of forty-five minutes.
Interval or half time is given for fifteen minutes.

Gender Bias in Sports:

Gender equality is required in all sectors, including in sports and games.
Due to various social norms, women were prohibited from participating in sports in the past.
Only a few women used to participate in the games in comparison to men.
In 1896, the first Olympic Games of modern times took place. However, women did not participate in the event.
By 1900, our society became more lenient. It allowed 11 women to compete beside 1319 men at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics Games. But those women participated only in sports considered suitable for women—tennis and golf.
By the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, over 40 per cent of participants were female.

Women in Sports in India:

Sports for Indian women were mostly recreational in the past.
Women started participating in competitive sports after India gained independence.
It took nearly 25 years to see Indian women win prizes in international sporting events.
Kamaljeet Sandhu won the gold medal at the 1970 Asian Games in the 400 m race.
Some famous women who made us proud with their achievements in sports are P. T. Usha, M.D. Valsamma, Shanta Rangaswamy, Sania Mirza, Saina Nehwal Aparna Popat, Nisha Millet, Mithali Raj and Mary Kom.

Main Reasons for Less Participation of Women in Sports:

Lack of female sportspeople as role models.
The culture in sports is primarily male-dominated.
Lack of education, awareness and backdated mentality.

However, we can say that participation in sports makes women feel more empowered. In India, now more women are participating in sports and winning important competitions.

New Words

Stamina: The ability to do prolonged physical activity.

Perpendicular: When a vertical straight line and a horizontal straight line intersect each other, they are said to be perpendicular to each other.

Kick-off: The starting of a football match when a player kicks the ball from the centre spot.

Did You Know?

The Royal and Ancient Club in Scotland, a 250-year-old organisation, is considered the world's top authority on golf. It lifted a longstanding ban on women playing in the Open Championship from the year 2005.
Men and women tennis players are awarded equal prize money in today’s US Open matches. However, legendary tennis player Billie Jean King threatened to boycott the US Open in 1973 if both men and women were not given equal prize money. So, from that year onwards, men and women finally received equal pay for their US Open wins.