A handkerchief, a ball, some tiles and a few knucklebones: meet the four Anatolian street and village games documented for I-PLAY by our Turkish partner, Biga Gelişim Spor Kulübü.
A handkerchief, a ball, some roof tiles, a few knucklebones. That is all you need to play the four games our Turkish partner, Biga Gelişim Spor Kulübü, has documented for I-PLAY. They are street and village games from Anatolia, and in September we will all play them together in Biga.
Who is behind them: Biga Gelişim Spor Kulübü
Biga Gelişim Spor Kulübü is a sports club based in Biga, in the province of Çanakkale, in north-west Türkiye. Its track record lies in grassroots sport and developing young talent (football, boxing, taekwondo and wushu), in organising regional and national events, and in working with public institutions and federations.
In I-PLAY, the club leads two of the most visible work packages: training (designing the methodology and the training of trainers) and the local festivals of traditional sport. That is also why Biga is hosting our international training of trainers, from 7 to 11 September 2026.
The four games
The four Turkish game sheets follow the same common template as the rest of the library: origins and context, materials, how to play, inclusive adaptations, safety and evaluation. All are designed for young people aged 13 to 30, with a mixed-inclusion approach and a medium level of physical intensity.
Mendil kapmaca (snatch the handkerchief)
Two groups line up facing each other. In the middle, one person holds a handkerchief. On the signal, one player from each side runs out to grab it and get back to their own area without being tagged by the opponent. Equipment needed: a handkerchief. It is probably the most universal game in the library (many cultures have their own version), which is why we chose it to represent Turkish games in the campaign for the Biga training.
Kaleli yakan top (dodgeball with a goal)
The pitch is divided by a centre line. Each team passes the ball within its own half and tries to hit members of the opposing team, either directly or off a bounce. Equipment: one ball. It combines speed, accuracy and a team strategy that is quick to pick up.
Aşık çıkarma (knock out the knucklebones)
A circle is drawn with a line through the middle, and each participant places their knucklebone (a small traditional bone, which today can be replaced by another object) on the line. From a throwing line five metres away, players try to knock them out of the circle with a stick. It is a game of precision and concentration, with very old roots in rural culture.
Dokuz kiremit (nine tiles)
Two groups and a tower of nine stacked tiles. When the tower falls, the first group tries to hit the second with the ball while the second tries to rebuild it. It is lively, noisy and highly cooperative: nobody wins without their team. It is still alive and well in many Turkish school playgrounds today.
None of these games needs a sports facility. They need a playground, a group and someone who can explain them well.
Why they matter for inclusion
The Turkish games in the library share three features that make them very useful with diverse groups:
Minimal, easily replaced equipment. A handkerchief, a ball, stackable objects: nobody is left out for lack of kit.
Rules you can grasp by watching. They can be explained through a demonstration without relying on language, which is crucial with multilingual groups or newcomers.
Varied roles. Some people run, some throw, some defend and some rebuild the tower, so everyone can take part by playing to their strengths.
From game sheet to Biga
The programme for the training of trainers provides for each partner to present its games on the first day, and for them to be put into practice and filmed over the following days. Biga has offered to provide the standard equipment (balls, ropes) so that the delegations from Spain and Poland can focus on playing and on learning how to lead.
After September, the Turkish games will travel in the other direction: they will reach the workshops and festivals in the Basque Country and Poland, in an intercultural round in which each group learns the games of the other two countries.
Beyond the game
In Türkiye, the project also plans a three-day traditional sports festival and a national policy dialogue round table in Ankara, and it counts on a sports federation from Ankara as an associated organisation to integrate I-PLAY training into coaching programmes.
Look up the game sheets for the four Turkish games in the library at i-play.abarka.org and try playing mendil kapmaca with your group this week. All you need is a handkerchief.