The U.S. squad was one of several newcomer teams at the World Cup that The Guardian classified as being a "ragtag [unit] of novices, part-timers, and transplants from other sports". The team, composed primarily of athletes and hip-hop musicians from the historically black Florida A&M University,[3][4] was recruited through word-of-mouth advertising and social media posts. One member was recruited through a text message that asked "Do you want to go to India?".[5]
They briefly trained in Jacksonville on a baseball field before traveling to India for the tournament.[6] None of the players were familiar with kabaddi, but had experience in other sports such as American football, Track and field, and basketball. Team member Dillyon Banks felt that the training regiment of two sessions per-day was demanding, remarking that "there were people throwin' up on the field. We're not getting paid to do this. The dedication, the heart, the team effort it took in a short period of time to make this whole thing work is what brought us together."[6]
The U.S. team was greeted with a "U-S-A!" chant as they emerged from the plane. The inexperienced team opened the tournament with a 52–12 loss to tournament favorites Iran, followed by similarly lopsided losses to Japan, Poland, Thailand, and Kenya. Having to compete against top countries such as India and Iran in their first competition ever,[5][6] was "almost like trying to learn basketball by playing against the Golden State Warriors.".[5] Captain Kushim Sun Rey remarked that "if you're on defense and one person makes a wrong move, you can end up losing major points."[5]
The Hindustan Times felt that the U.S. team were a "quirk" of the tournament, "even by its regular standards considering pharmacists and engineers are competing against monks and fishermen", but stood out from others with their display of hip-hop culture, reporting that "their dreadlocked players take to the kabaddi mats with their nicknames on their backs. McKie wears his rap name 'Pharoh D' on the back of his shirt. Kevin Caldwell, an all rounder, wears 'Hustle' on his jersey. Fields' shirt also has his rap name 'Ronnie Eriic'. Another teammate is called 'Swag'."[4]
It was argued that the presence of the U.S. and other newcomers was a sign that the sport of kabaddi was experiencing "[a] revolution from dusty provincial pastime to international media spectacle", and could begin to develop a following in the United States.[3]
