Renowned as a venue for the gathering of intellectuals, stalwarts and statesmen, the history and tradition of the Mylapore Club remain unmatched in this metropolis.
For over a century now, the activities of the club are catalogued with meticulous care for posterity by projecting the contributions that had benefited several segments of society.
Old and new
Located in the busy Luz area, the sprawling club is bathed today in an ambience that reflects the synthesis of modernity and old-world charm.
A key promotional area on the club's agenda has always been sports.
The iconic face for decades was the tenacious tennis player of yesteryear, T. B. Balagopal. Even a stalwart such as Ramanathan Krishnan admired the resilience of the wizened old man sweating it out in singles on one of the courts almost every evening.
If Balagopal gave Mylapore Club a special identity, prominent bridge players of that era such as K. R. Sundaram Aiyer and N. Ramarathnam added to its ethos.
Refreshingly, the club kept pace with the changes across the world of sports, and tailored itself to meet the challenges that go with them.
In fact, it is among the few in the city that has a flood-lit cricket coaching facility. The trainees turn up in droves to be taught by former Test cricketer V. B. Chandrasekhar. Of the three tennis courts, two are flood-lit.
Also unique is the conduct of a coaching camp for contract bridge and competitions in solving chess problems, under the guidance of the internationally known C. G. S. Narayanan.
The background of the club's sporting activities is catalogued rather elaborately here to convey the unfolding of an ambitious programme aimed at enlarging the area of competitions, coaching and infrastructure in the coming months.
There has been a spurt in sports-related activities after the eminent sports administrator and enthusiast, M. A. M. Ramaswamy, took over as president.
Currently, the club conducts regular and systematic coaching in cricket, tennis, badminton, billiards, snooker, chess and contract bridge. But there is now a conscious effort to enhance the profile of all disciplines.
To achieve this end, the club is planning to establish a corpus fund of Rs.1.5 crore.
According to Mohan Ramalingam, co-ordinator for sports programmes, a special 10-member committee, headed by M. A. M. Ramaswamy and Ram Santhanam, has been formed to manage the Mylapore Sports Trust and formulate policies to expand the sports programmes.
The committee is expected to look at adding new dimensions to areas such as coaching, competitions, talent spotting, providing advance training with nationally acclaimed coaches, acquiring sophisticated infrastructure and running academies at least in a few specialised disciplines.
Given the influence and commitment of the members who constitute the Trust, the goals set do not seem beyond reach, if adequate resources are obtained for funding the programmes.
