‘Indoor stadium a shot in the arm for sports infra’

Another ₹2-crore facility will come up at Sriharipuram soon, says Government Whip

Volleyball players practising at the Gopalapatnam indoor stadium on Wednesday.

In what could be a shot in the arm of sports infrastructure in the non-core areas of the city, the recently built indoor stadium at Gopalapatnam is all set to host the Sports Authority of India Inter-Regional Volleyball Championship for boys and girls on Thursday.

Built at a cost of ₹3.5 crore by the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) at S.V.L.N. Zilla Parishad High School, the indoor stadium have all the facilities for all indoor games and organise martial art competitions.

Volleyball tourney

“Despite no gallery, the stadium can accommodate about 50 to 100 people each on the ground and first floors. The objective here is to train young sports talent,” says Government Whip and A.P. Volleyball Association president P.G.V.R. Naidu. “The stadium will also host Andhra Pradesh State Sub-junior Inter-District Volleyball Championship for boys and girls simultaneously. The tournaments are being organised by Vizag Volleyball Association under the aegis of Andhra Pradesh Volleyball Association. Around 1,000 participants will be playing during the four-day event,” he said.

Referring to the other development projects related to sports infrastructure, he said the Gopalapatnam Zilla Parishad School ground had also been renovated by spending ₹50 lakh pooled up from various departments. “The GVMC is developing another stadium on par with the new indoor stadium at Sriharipuram at a cost of ₹2 crore. Sporting facilities have also been developed or being developed at Siddhardhnagar, Durganagar, Indiranagar, MIG Colony and ASR Nagar among others in the last four years,” Mr. Naidu added.