Turf is greener on city side

B’luru has most number of astro arenas, with 130 privately owned ones, in the country; These makeshift fields are a booming business, charging `1,500 for hour’s play
Turf is greener on city side

BENGALURU: With only two players from Karnataka in the ongoing, first in the country, FIFA U17 World Cup - Hendry Antonay and Sanjeev Stalin - it got us wondering whether Karnataka has what it takes to develop more talent in age group football, and why the state isn’t churning out more talent.
Earlier, it was reported that Bengaluru would be hosting the the U-17 FIFA tournament. However, with both stadiums - Kanteerva and Bangalore Football Stadium - not matching up to FIFA standards despite bids having been made to reconstruct them, the tournament was shifted to the capital.

Footballer Sunil Chhetri played at
Kickshack in

It’s not that the city does not love its football, but the lack of opportunites, space and parents not encouraging their kids to take up the sport professionally, has hindered its growth. However, encouraging fans to continue playing their favourite sport are the city’s multiple astro arenas, which act as makeshift fields for people to play with a bunch of friends or schools to train children when their own campuses lack facilities.

Waseem Ahmed, part of Bengaluru Football Club’s (BFC) official fan club West Block Blues, reveals that there are 130 privately owned, astro areas in the city, which is the most number in the country, followed by Mumbai, which doesn’t even have half this number. With a pay-by-the-hour system, the option of playing five a side, seven a side or nine a side and affordable rates, these arenas are helping

“Earlier, people didn’t have the space to play, and would end up playing on gravel that would result in injuries. Artificial turf arenas are comfortable and the reason people love them is because they don’t get hurt. BFC coaches kids here, and schools also book our arena for tournaments,” says Bopanna MP from The Game Changer on MSR College Road. He adds that five-a-side and seven-a-side matches are booked the most, and that it works out to only about `100-200 a head, as it costs between `1,400-1,600 for an hour’s play. On weekends, they sometimes get booked for the entire day.

The artificial turfs are usually imported from Europe, and can cost `20-25 lakhs on an average to set up, says Ravi Varma, founder of Kickshack in Yellahanka. “The cost to set up one of these turfs varies on the quality, and FIFA standard one can cost close to 35 lakhs. What is best about these arenas is that kids have started playing at a younger age, which wasn’t the case before. Now parents are sending their 5-6 year olds for coaching, which will really help in the growth of the sport in the city,” says Varma. He adds that apart from the morning coaching sessions, they get about 5-6 bookings a day, with people playing for an hour or hour and a half.

City fan club builds support system for U-17 Indian team

Pranav Muralidhar, who plays at an astro arena on Sarjapur Road, says that as a football fan, this is the best thing that has happened to the city.“We don’t get time or the space to play after work, and the emergence of these makeshift fields have benefited a lot of us,” he says. Pranave says that he sees many kids from different schools coming there to play either for leisure, tournaments and coaching, which is encouraging. “Hopefully, the football scene in the city will strengthen,” he says.

Proving their love for football, the West Block Blues, along with fan clubs across the country, have joined together to form the Blue Pilgrims - an umbrella group that will be travelling to Delhi to support team India at the U-17 tournament.Waseems, who founded this group, says that the idea was to shed rivalries and come together for the love of football.

“We have planned to march from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Metro station towards the stadium before kick-off,” says Waseem.He adds, “We have got a good response so far, with around 300 fans expected to join. The way devotees go to Kashi, we wanted follow our national team, like a pilgrimage”.
Waseem says that the idea was to build a travelling fans culture in Indian football, just like we see in other countries.

Lack of job security

Veteran footballer N Ulaganathan, referred to as the ‘black pearl’ of Indian football, says that the primary reason for the lack of under age football in the city is due to the lack of job security if one decides to go pro. “Earlier, state-level players were promised jobs after their football career was over. Now that doesn’t happen, and this is the main reason parents don’t encourage their kids to take up the sport. No one is interested in football anymore, it’s all about cricket,” he says. He adds that the government needs to secure jobs to players, only then will the youth be interested in taking it up. Waseem adds that parents don’t want to take that risk with their children, because a lot needs to be invested and a career is not an assurance. He adds that there is a lot of talent in the state, but there aren’t enough academies set up for talent to nurtured. “The authorities need to wake up. Bengaluru would’ve been ideal for the U-17 FIFA, as the crowd here is mixed and energetic. Academies should be set up across the state to train kids, and we’re hoping that after this FIFA tournament, the situation will improve,” he says. Sunil Chhetri’s GamePlan app has also helped in making football fans meet others they can meet and play matches with.

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