Amritsar's sole stadium fails to cater to most sports disciplines
Guru Nanak Stadium, the solitary facility for athletes, has tracks for running and circles for throwing events, but serves little purpose for 24 athletic disciplines, including jumps and others.
Players, who are keen to train for jumps, including short, long and triple, find themselves relegated to the background as the ground between the circular shaped running tracks are occupied by players of other disciplines. The ground does not have specific infrastructure required for high jump and pole vault, the two important events in Olympics.
For throwing events, including shotput, discus throw, hammer and javelin, the stadium has circles marked for some of them yet its players are not in a position to do their practice regularly due to external interference.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, these players said, “The ground remains occupied by players of other games like rugby, kabaddi, football and even for hosting national ceremonies like the Republic Day. It breaks the momentum of our training for days which causes immense loss to us in terms of performance. We have to pay heavily in terms of loss of training sessions which casts its shadow on our performance in the state-level and national competitions where the fight is neck to neck to qualify for the next event.”
In stark comparison, the training session of cricket goes on without any external interference at the Gandhi Ground, which is situated next to the stadium. Catering exclusively to cricket, which is considered a national craze, the pitch is painstakingly created, curated and maintained. The staff at the ground keeps a watch so that its immaculately nurtured grass is not trampled upon by an outsider. Open spaces around the ground serve to hold net practice sessions for cricketers of all age-groups. Greenhorns and those playing for the state and national teams can be seen practising at the nets.
Established in 1932 with a donation from Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala and the then Punjab Government, the Gandhi Ground is spread on 22 acres. Later, Guru Nanak Stadium was carved out of it.
District Sports Officer Sukhchain Singh Kahlon said, “The department tries its best to provide space and infrastructure to all games. Players of kabaddi and weightlifting, practice daily under specialised coaches at Guru Nanak Stadium. Players of rugby, football and athletics also drop in for training at separate morning and evening sessions, while players of football, athletics, handball, softball and volleyball practice at Khalsa College.” He said players of cycling and hockey practice on the grounds of Guru Nanak Dev Stadium.
The multipurpose stadium proposed at the Ranjit Avenue could serve the purpose of young players. However, decades after its foundation stone was laid, it exists only on paper only.