ROURKELA: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has set a one-year target to complete astro-turf grounds in all 17 blocks of Sundargarh district for 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup. But can these turfs serve the purpose of unearthing hidden rural talents and develop the game at the grassroots level? Hockey experts think otherwise.
Though acknowledging the good intent of the CM, hockey experts in Sundargarh feel matching infrastructure and logistics are a must to derive the desired results from the astro-turfs.
This means 17 more hockey hostels and the herculean task of running these facilities.
A hockey coach of the State Government said at least one coach is required to train the kids and four groundsmen for two-time watering and maintaining a poly-grass field. While each astro-turf may cost around Rs 6-7 crore, the monthly operational expenditure would be above Rs 1 lakh.
Retired coach Sylvester Toppo, who has the distinction of being first coach of Odisha Government, said even if the big announcement gets materialised with one-time capital expenditure, it would be hard to sustain in the long-run.
The astro-turf fields, which will most likely come up at the centralised locations of block headquarters, would fail to attract rural youngsters from far-flung areas.
Some blocks have 20 gram panchayats each and in most cases, the distance from villages to block headquarters is 25-50 km.
It would be difficult for poor tribal kids from far-off villages to take out time for practice on astro-turf fields after attending schools. And practising only on holidays does not make one a national or international player, Toppo said.
To ensure consistent flow of talent pool, each of the poly-grass facilities need attached hostels which again is a costly factor, he opined.
Much attention is being given to the tribal heartland of Sundargarh. But to get the desired results, focus should be on popularising the game among non-tribal areas of Odisha.
Ironically, the State Government-run sports hostel at Sundargarh town still lacks an astro-turf or even natural ground despite being established more than two decades back in 1997. All 45 hockey trainees (boys) practice at the SAI-SAG Centre.
Moreover, hockey legend and former MP Dilip Tirkey had started work on laying an astro-turf at his native village Saunamora in Balishankar block. Four years on, it still lies incomplete.