Although two years have passed since the official team of the Sports Authority of India arrived to witness the facilities available at the Rajaram Stadium at Nagaram for the reopening of the Wrestling and Archery Academies, nothing has happened till now, disappointing scores of sportspersons.
Inspection of the team comprising hockey coach P. Harshavardhan Reddy, Manohar Prakash and others and their positive response created hopes among sports lovers who wished that the academies might start functioning by June 2016 with 100 students for training in the two sports. However, the hopes were dashed.
The stadium built on a sprawling 16-acre land has well-laid infrastructure and started off with the archery and athletics academies in 1999. The wrestling academy which began later was shifted to Khammam and the previous two academies were closed after three years, reasons for which were not known, said a SAI staff member, pleading anonymity. Since then, repeated appeals and representations made by the wrestling and archery associations, Olympic Association and sportspersons to the authorities have fallen on deaf ears. On the premises of the Rajaram Stadium, one indoor stadium, pavilion building and hostel facilities provided by the SAI are still available. Besides, separate athletic tracks are there for boys and girls, according to M. Murali, a national archer.
In 2015, the then Collector D. Ronald Rose had sent a representation to the Sports Authority of Telangana State for re-establishment of SAI training centre. In response, Director-General of SAI I. Srinivas called for a meeting with officials of his department and the TSSA to discuss the matter and explore the possibilities of reopening the academies. Thereafter, things have remained as they were. District Archery Association office-bearers are of the opinion that the stadium has all facilities. They also made a representation to MP K. Kavitha for her initiative to bring back the past glory to the academy.
