There is a tinge of pain in her voice when Mercy Kuttan says, “For a sportsperson, the greatest need is a suitable ground to train on.”
And if arranging finances to sustain an ambitious project becomes a daily struggle, lesser mortals would long have succumbed. The former Olympian and Asian Games medallist knows it more than most. For her efforts to mould future athletes is facing roadblocks, of both the infrastructural and monetary kinds.
“I don’t know how long I can continue in this fashion. But I have to. This is a dream project that I cannot abandon,” says the strong-willed Mercy.
Despite her trainees at the six-year old Mercy Kuttan Athletics Academy having made their presence felt at the national level, winning several medals along the way, they are yet to set foot on that piece of promised land which they can call their own. Currently based at the Sacred Heart College Ground, Thevara, in Kochi, the MKAA trainees are now among the best in the state and three of them have already made it to the Indian team at the junior level. But to raise them to their full potential, a 400 m track and allied facilities of their own are an absolute must. But when, where and how that will come about, she has little idea.
“Now, we are having to do with the road surrounding the SH College ground. Training on a multi-purpose ground offers nowhere near the scope that a dedicated ground would provide. There is always the fear of injury while running on uneven surfaces. Apart from the immediate benefits of a proper training venue, the emotional connect with our own ground will automatically spur the athletes to better effort and achievement. We can have our own equipment too,” says the Arjuna awardee. A proposal to identify a six to eight acre plot is lying with the government which is yet to fast-track it, with other matters nudging up the priority list.
The current situation is particularly depressing for the Olympian as she, along with her late husband M R Muralikuttan, had ventured forth to start an athletics academy in 2009 after detailed discussions with the then LDF government representatives and sports administrators. However, once the academy was up and running, little help has been forthcoming.
“While I can understand the difficulty in finding land in Ernakulam, it is not impossible if the government takes it up with due urgency,” she says, with eternally lingering hope.
Given her stature in Indian athletics - having been the country’s first woman to go past six metres in long jump and then qualifying for the Olympics after switching over to 400 m - Mercy is confident of enlisting the support of the nation’s leading sports institutions to bring in additional coaching staff and in laying a synthetic track.
“I have spoken with the Sports Authority of India authorities who are willing to lay a synthetic track for the academy if there is land. SAI or the Kerala State Sports Council will also provide me with an extra coach,” she points out.