Name: Sepak Takraw History and Origin: Sepak Takraw is a game that originates in Malaysia. The name of the games come from the Malaysian name for kick being “sepak” and the Thai word for ball being “takraw”. The origins of sepak takraw remain a matter of intense debate in Southeast Asia, as several countries proudly claim it as their own. There is, however, some agreement that the game was introduced to Southeast Asia through commercial contact with China, where an ancient form of the game originated. It is believed that many variations of the game evolved from an ancient Chinese military exercise, where soldiers would try to keep a feathered shuttlecock airborne by kicking it back and forth between two or more people. As the sport developed, balls made of woven strips of rattan eventually replaced the animal hide and chicken feathers.

Equipment: The equipment recommended for Sepak Takraw is a flat pair of shoes, a woven ball, and a takraw net. All of the equipment used for Sepak Takraw can be substituted with a rubber ball and badminton nets. For students who are beginners this will prove to be helpful as they simplify the abilities needed to play the game.

Instructions Modified of Students: 1. Allow bounces between kicks/hits, and don’t count the number of hits per side … as long as the ball is bouncing or in the air, the ball is “alive”.

2. Rotation of players upon the service returning to their side (similar to volleyball).

3. Allowing players to toss the ball up to them, then kick it over the net for the serve (opposed to one of their forwards at the net tossing the ball to them).

4. Allowing every first serve (after a rotation when the serve returns to that team) two chances to get the ball over the net and in bounds.

5. Kicking contact point on a serve must be from below the waist.

6. Modified score keeping/game length (mainly dependant on amount of time available): a. Play single set matches that are timed and whoever is ahead when time is up is the winner, each match being 20 minutes long for example; b. OR just play single sets of up to 15 pts. (Must win by two pts. up to a ceiling of 17); c. OR play best of out 3 sets (each set going up to 15 or 17 pts.) wins the match instead of best out of 5 sets (as is the current standard rules); d. OR play the best out of 5 sets wins the match but with each set only going up to 8 pts. (Must win by two pts. up to a ceiling of 10).