AstroTurf stadium at Punjab Agricultural University caters to over 100 players

Anil Datt

Ludhiana, August 9

The AstroTurf stadium here at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) is an important sports facility catering to the needs of hockey players of the area. The stadium, named after Olympian Prithipal Singh, was built and thrown open for use in July 1999, when the synthetic turf, imported from the Netherlands, was installed.

Since then, numerous major hockey tournaments have been held here, including All India Inter-Varsity Tournaments (2000 and 2006), Asian Schools Hockey Championship (2003), All India Guru Gobind Singh Hockey Tournament for a couple of years, All India Mohinder Partap Singh Memorial Tournament for Women for 14 consecutive years, besides two national hockey camps in addition to many other prestigious hockey competitions.

The AstroTurf was relaid in 2011 and the old surface was sent for use at Sangrur. Over 100 hockey players of different age groups receive training from qualified and experienced coaches here including trainees of Malwa Hockey Academy, students of the PAU, Government Girls College and Khalsa College for Women.

The players are imparted training in skill development, team build-up, conditioning and fitness besides match practice to prepare them for future hockey tournaments.

The stadium is well maintained. The seating area is in a good condition, water gun to sprinkle is timely replaced, clean water and sanitation services are available and checks to prevent equipment failure are done regularly.

Players Sonia and Satvir Kaur praised the authorities concerned for arranging for facilities which helped the players have consistent playing conditions to improve their skill in a scheduled manner.

Hind Pal and Taranpreet Kaur, PAU students, who are regular to the stadium, echoed the same sentiment, however, they added that the current ground was overused, leading to reduced playing time, resulting in its wear and tear requiring frequent the maintenance.

They suggested creation of six-a-side AstroTurf grounds on the university campus so that beginners could get a fair chance to practice and enhance their skills.