Bengaluru, with a huge population, has only one stadium available to athletes. The Karnataka State Athletic Association has not been able to provide players who can compete at an international level.
Bengaluru, Nov. 22, 2018
By Rohit Chatterjee
Bengaluru, with a huge population, has only one stadium available to athletes. The Karnataka State Athletic Association has not been able to provide players who can compete at an international level.
On the other hand, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) has all the modern facilities and infrastructure they need. The SAI has a fully synthetic track and cinder athletic track; Two Kho-Kho, and Kabbadi courts; A shooting range of 10 m, 25 m, and 50 m. Tennis court and outdoor volleyball courts are also available for the players.
The SAI is equipped with other facilities such as sand volleyball, sand running track, 500 m clay track and a trap and skeet shooting range. The indoor facilities have weightlifting halls, boxing hall, taekwondo hall which can be used for judo, wrestling, and fencing. The Sports Authority of India is the center-based body that handles all the national and international tournaments and is governed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
To be a part of SAI, a player needs to clear oneself with a certain performance from the state body. But, with such problems in Karnataka State Athletic Association, the number of players joining the SAI from the state Karnataka is fewer.
When asked about the issue, a Kho-Kho player named Rana commented on the issue saying, “This is not new but definitely concerning as the players reach to this position after lots of struggle but if they do not get proper support from Karnataka State Athlete Association then it will harder for them to compete further and get on the national team.”
