Sainik School Bijapur, which has gained popularity as the “hockey school” for winning several tournaments, has received a shot in the arm with the school all set to have its own astro turf hockey field.
The turf has been granted by the Union government under “Khelo India” programme for promoting sports. With this, the school will have a modern and hi-tech hockey ground for players to practice for international events.
“Our school has been instrumental in promotion of hockey where budding players are being produced. Many of them have already played at State and national tournaments. The new artificial playing surface and training area is one in a series of recent sports infrastructure development by the school. The new turf will help players to practise in a professional manner to compete in international tournaments,” said principal Col. Tamojeet Biswas. He said the school also has playgrounds and playing fields for various games, including a deco turf basketball court, an international standard volleyball court having a masthead lighting system, a well-equipped gymnasium, and a swimming pool. Col. Biswas said the school hockey team has retained supremacy by emerging the champion among Sainik Schools at the national level for many years and the team has quite often qualified for participation in the Nehru Gold Cup Hockey tournament.
Stating that the astro turf would further promote sports and provide opportunities for Sainik School cadets, he claimed that it was the first synthetic turf in north Karnataka.
“With the construction of the artificial turf hockey ground, all hockey enthusiasts from north Karnataka will have access to a world class field and this will lead to promotion of hockey and will definitely produce quality players in north Karnataka,” Col. Biswas added.
