COIMBATORE: The renovation of the football ground at Kakkan Colony in Valparai town is a key demand of the public to political parties in the election season.
Local sports buffs and the Valparai Football Association have made it clear that the overhaul of the ground is the primary task for any political party seeking their votes.
The demand for the renovation of the ground has indeed become a significant focal point in the campaign for next month's assembly election, they said.
Football has been a passion for the residents of the hill town of Valparai. But the native sports lovers sorely miss a proper football ground as the preferred one at Kakkan Colony in Ward Number 10 came to be used as a parking space in the last four years.
The ground was widely used for sports for more than 20 years before it fell into disuse. Unable to find an alternative place, the sports enthusiasts had been demanding the state government to provide another ground or redevelop the old one.
"The Valparai Football Association had conducted several state- and district-level tournaments in this ground where even teams from neighbouring states participated. However, the unmaintained ground was encroached upon for the last several years. We had been demanding the authorities to revamp it. In 2019, it was revamped, and two tournaments were conducted. Later, the ground was again abandoned for more than four years," said H Sayed Ali, the coordinator of the Valparai Football Association.
He said that the sports lovers started demanding members of political parties approaching them for votes to give an assurance that the football ground would be developed. "Protecting the ground with proper facilities will encourage many players from this hilly terrain," said Sayed Ali.
All 56 estates in Valparai have at least one ground for football where the people residing in the locality used to play the game. If they want to play professionally, they used to come to the common ground at Kakkan Colony. The football players of the hill station said that if the ground is developed with proper facilities, it can produce many talented players.