Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Aiming high indeed
|
Coach G. Shivakumar's dream of having a full-fledged badminton academy is nearing fruition. He is hoping that after massive investment it will be self-sustaining in the future
|
PHOTO: K. GOPINATHAN
FUTURE PLANS G. Shivakumar: `Once we begin, I wish to conduct tournaments and allow others to conduct tournaments in our stadium. I would also like corporates to use the facilities for their in-house sports meets'
All of us dream and many dream big but very few pursue those dreams with courage and conviction. The trick, said the late Walt Disney, is pursuing one's dreams. Badminton coach G. Shivakumar, is among the few who chose to nurse big dreams and pursue it with single-minded devotion to turn it into reality.
Shivakumar, 35, among the noted coaches in the State with a stable of talented young hopefuls under him, dreamed of a day when he would build his own stadium that offered the best training facilities for his wards, and which would rival stadia built by various associations in Bangalore.
The start
A bright engineering student in the 1990s, Shivakumar, took up coaching as a hobby. He first trained few youngsters at Indiranagar Club in 1993 and then took up other assignments that came his way at East Cultural Association and then Kormangala Club. But he soon reached a point when clubs started curtailing his coaching stints.
"During this period, I realised the futility of using a club as a training venue and then started thinking in terms of having my own coaching facilities," says Shivakumar.
In 1998, he started assembling his own core team to build his dream stadium. It included his friends, siblings, and a band of well-wishers. But the project had several birth pangs such as identifying a good site.
"I was looking in and around Indiranagar, but the costs were prohibitive and I decided to move little away from city." After 18 months of searching, he found a place, at Bidrahalli (off Old Madras Road), between Krishnarajapuram and the nearby town of Hoskote. It was a square piece of land, measuring three acres.
"Given the size of site, I wanted not only a badminton stadium, but also build facilities for other games like tennis, table tennis and billiards and snooker. I felt it was feasible to build an all-purpose sports complex to cater all needs, but with emphasis mainly on badminton." Funds were a big crunch, but Shivakumar was willing to take a huge gamble, mortgaging his property papers and his family's jewellery collection and taking loans from friends and relatives. The cost of the project also shot through the roof. What he had planned at the outset for Rs.50 lakhs now costs three times as much.
"It is basically because of a hike in construction costs and the fact that I was adding more facilities. I had planned for two or three courts, but I ended up having six in all. I also added dormitory facilities and we are now expanding to include a gym, swimming pool, tennis courts and a floor for indoor games like TT, billiards and snooker." Shivakumar is looking for corporate support for his establishment, by giving corporate memberships, besides offering regular membership for players.
"We plan to name each court after an individual sponsor or group. Financially, I have gone the whole distance and I expect achieve the rest through corporate sponsorship."
Her hopes at the end of the day, S. Kumar Badminton Academy, as he plans to call it, will be a full-fledged and a self-sustaining training centre.
"Distance should not be a problem as I am running shuttle service for all my trainees from important locations in the city. I am not just looking at my own wards, but also some of talented ones from the State who wish to train here. They are welcome. I have also taken about 20 local children of the area at a very nominal fee. Unlike clubs, which cater only to those who live and reside nearby, my academy is open to all, no matter where the trainee resides."
The coach recalls the initial resistance of the villagers, who had objected to a `club' being built in the area. "They had very wrong notion of what goes in a club, maybe due to negative influence of movies. Later, they realised that it is a sports club and then fully cooperated with us."
Shivakumar has set a September deadline to go on stream. "Once we begin, I wish to conduct tournaments and allow other to conduct tournaments in our stadium. I would also like corporates to use the facilities for their in-house sports meets."
The academy itself will be run by a board of trustees. And he sees good future for the game in the State. "Our base is getting stronger and one way to improve the standard and growth is provide access to the game to all aspiring youngsters. Till now only those who have some sort of club membership are able to play and pursue their interests in the game. But it has to change. Another reservation that I have about present scenario is the number of under-10 tournaments. I guess there are too many of them. At that age, kids need lot more moulding than hopping from one tournament to the other."
Shivakumar can be contacted on 25213579, 98440-86765 or 98440-56765.
KALYAN ASHOK
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
