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Good news for BU sports
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A new sports policy for Bangalore University is on the anvil and this might just be the break students are looking for
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The much needed sports complex coming up at the Bangalore University's Jnanabharathi campus.
BANGALORE UNIVERSITY's sportspersons were pleasantly surprised when the Vice-Chancellor and Physical Education Director announced cash awards and mementos to players who had represented the varsity with distinction. With the University's finance officer and registrar also being pro-active, the awards function was expedited and Rs. Three lakh was disbursed. What was even more encouraging was that during the course of his address to the students, the Vice-Chancellor, M.S. Thimmappa, stated that the University would soon come out with a sports policy and that an announcement would be made shortly in this regard.
The University has always been a nursery for grooming sportspersons in various disciplines. Cricket, kabbadi, table tennis, basketball, hockey, athletics, badminton, and even billiards and snooker form the major repertoire that interest the students during their years at college. A large number of players have gone on to achieve fame at the international stage too. But the University's impetus to these sportspersons has been ranging from excellent to lukewarm. There never was consistency in identifying potential champions and supporting them to the hilt.
During the mid-60s, a young table tennis player was making waves and was on a giant killing spree on the national rankings. The boy was a student of the Physics Honours course in Central College and would unassumingly drift to the college pavilion during free hours in the hope of getting some well-earned practice. There was only one table on the ground floor of the pavilion and the number of enthusiasts far outnumbered the players who could get a game in. Kabad Jayant would wait his turn and play with anybody in the queue. He regularly decimated his opponent, but never ever announced the fact that he was the rising star. The University could surely afford more tables, but narrow-minded policies ensured that students missed a chance to play with a champion, and who knows possibly another champ could have been spotted.
The Central College, in fact, was a great place for sporting activities. It was the only College (at that time) that had a turf pitch for cricket along with clay courts for tennis and basketball. The College cricket ground has witnessed some of the greatest cricket players from all over the world with the ground being the traditional venue for the South Zone versus visiting teams.
BU Vice-Chancellor M.S. Thimmappa is all for encouraging sporting activity in the university &@151; Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy
Alan Davidson, Bill Lawry, Les Favell, Peter Burge, Norman O'Neill from Australia, Rohan Kanhai, Wes Hall, Lance Gibbs, and a galaxy of other West Indians have played at the ground. Sri Lankans and Englishmen have hit boundaries and toppled wickets and India's greats such as Erapalli Prasanna, B.S. Chandrashekar, G.R. Vishwanath and the craze of the 60s, Salim Durrani, have thrilled crowds of up to 30,000 who would chant vociferously from make-shift wooden stands. But the ground now is in shambles due to lack of proper maintenance. A few State Association matches use the ground as a venue and rain often mars schedules. There are no qualified grounds-men. The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) absorbed one of the grounds-men who looked after the Central College grounds. The toothy "Elega" and "Thimma" who were in charge of the College grounds have passed away and their sons have moved to the KSCA.
The Vice-Chancellor, was however, quick to agree that the potential was being wasted. "The refurbishment of Central College grounds is very much part of the new Sports Policy being formulated. We have a phased programme that will begin with the building of a sidewalk around the ground. This will fulfil the need for the number of morning walkers who need exercise space in the Central College area. The pitch is also to be repaired and with the co-operation of the KSCA, the ground can be used to host some important matches," Dr. Thimmappa observed.
The thrust of the sports policy would be the construction of a complex at the University Kengeri campus. The earthwork has already commenced for this project and soon some 6,000 to 15,000 students at Kengeri would have excellent sports facilities including a multi-gymnasium there. The sports complex has a great ambience and should be completed in about eight months. The policy will also identify talented students and organise a special coaching scheme for them in order to let them focus on their sports regimen.
Dr. Thimmappa also said plans were afoot to revive some traditional matches such as the National Champions versus the University teams and a calendar according to which universities in Karnataka would have tournaments in different sporting activities. The University is also soon organising a seminar and will involve the media too in the formulation of its sports policy. Some 30 experts from different fields would attend the seminar.
The Vice-Chancellor was happy that Colleges affiliated to the University were doing their bit to promote sports. "Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain College has done a lot for its budding players and so has the Al-Ameen College," Dr. Thimmappa noted.
The University has sufficient funds in its corpus to get the policy going. "Funds will be made available in a phased manner and no project is too big for the varsity. Good news for the students of the University.
D. RAVI SHANKAR
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