That inspired some of them to eventually join composite teams to compete and develop a passion for a sport that enjoys the popularity of rugby in Northern India where the televised lucrative Pro Kabaddi League enthusiasts are accorded a following akin to IPL cricketers.
Nevertheless, it wasn't until 2015 that Kalia established the SBBS (Sant Baba Bhag Singh) Kabaddi Club in Hastings.
"I took some young fellows to train them. They are around 18 and not that tough but they are learning as a team and, at 19 or 20 years old, they will get better," he says.
The dairy store manager, who arrived in Auckland as a diploma in business management student, is still studying via correspondence.
As luck would have it, the HB Indian Association Inc, through office bearers Charanjit Singh, Rakesh Kumar and Jagdeep Judge "JJ" Singh, came to Kalia's corner with some much-needed financial injection.
That enabled the team captain/raider to organise skills work on the ground and engage the players in cardio/gym training.
"I want to take the team to No1 in the country," he says although the bragging rights are shared between clubs in Te Puke and Tauranga.
At Akina Park on Sunday, Waikato Sports Club claimed the crown in the second kabaddi tourney held in Hastings.
It attracted hundreds of fans who had a running commentary in the vernacular on the action.
Punjab Kesari Sports Club (Auckland) were runners-up in the nine-team tourney comprising a dozen players a team.
The Punjabi format of the game pits four raiders (attackers) and four stoppers (defenders), as opposed to the "national style" in Asia where one raider has to tag one of seven stoppers before retreating to his half.
The sport originated in the southern state of Tamil Nadu where it promoted the life skills of hunting and defending one's village.
While there are four major variations in India, the principles of the game remain the same, albeit traditionally shirtless blokes grappling on dirt and grass. However, nowadays players sport swanky strips and the competition is staged on indoor artificial courts.
HB Kabaddi Association vice-president Judge says it is quite common for teams from overseas, including Australia, to pay the travel and accommodation expenses for a pedigree athlete to compete at a tourney and also receive payment based on their performance.
Kamaljit Singh, of Hastings, is a former district representative from Punjab who arrived in Bay of Plenty in 2010 before moving to Hastings two years ago with wife Jaspreet Kaur and now 2-year-old daughter Harsirat Kaur.
A storeman at the Big Barrel liquor outlet in Clive, Singh is a stopper in the Hastings team.
"We're quite new so, hopefully, in a couple of years give more competition to stronger teams," says the 28-year-old who has competed in front of larger audiences in Takanini (Auckland).
"It's the mother sport in Punjab and it's more popular than cricket or hockey so I'm glad to be playing kabaddi," says Singh, who made the cut for the New Zealand team with the most stops at the trials in Auckland for the 2013 world championship but didn't qualify because he's not a resident.
