It is good news that a carriageway named Cemetery Road has two large enclosures that bustle with human activity. If Robinson Park (Aringar Anna Park now) across Raja Sir Ramaswamy Mudaliar Hospital is known for political history, Robinson playground adjacent to the hospital prides itself on a sports-past of more than half a century.
The park and the playground present a contrast. While the Park has care lavished on it, the playground suffers from step-motherly neglect and indifference from officials.
A gift from the philanthropic Ramaswamy Mudaliar, the playground has a lot going for it. It covers an impressive area, even after losing space for the nutritious-meal-scheme buildings. With a second entrance at Gollavar Agraharam Road, Mottai Thottam, it is accessible to an entire neighbourhood.
It enjoys the unflinching support of the residents of Royapuram. “My father was a fruit-vendor and I was born here,” said sixty-year-old Kumaran, for whom the ground is a second home.
“Fifty years ago, when I began playing here, it was an open ground, a prominent address for almost all the sports we know of. Schools across Royapuram would conduct their Sports Day in these grounds.”
People have been playing here since 1955, he said. He ran a basketball club named Venus, students in colleges nearby formed their own, taking the number to eight. Football and basketball tournaments became common fixtures in which teams from Railways, Customs, ICF and IAF (Avadi) were regular contestants. Boxing took off in a big way, both girls and boys stepping in to punch bags.
Every May, he and his son Ilango, a referee and member of King’s Club, would hold a month-long sports camp shelling out cash to buy t-shirts, socks and equipment for basketball, football, boxing, silambattam, hockey, carrom, kabaddi. The CM’s Corporation basketball tournament is held here. There’s a veteran’s team as well.
In 1991-96 “development” stepped in. The local MLA built a stage at the far end and kabaddi became the casualty. Players left since it gobbled up the space where it was played. Another unsolicited gift is the spectator gallery which has bitten into football space. “Kids hurt their toes while playing football — they invariably bump against the concrete structure.” Now the ill-looking gallery in the odd corner is a storehouse for garbage and a haven for kids looking for a place to smoke. Football cannot be played in this area.
“We had to fight for the rest of the ground, some of it has been given away to vendors.” We saw a dozen vendors walking in to use the walls as urinals. It is clear the local kids love to be on the grounds. We saw groups running, jumping and throwing a ball, shouting and laughing as they held mock competitions. “Our kids — all from disadvantaged homes — have reached sub-junior, junior and state-level competitions, our carrom and football players have got jobs in Customs on the strength of their sports achievements,” said Kumaran not without a hint of pride.
It is equally clear the facilities need massive upgrading. For 20 years, no supplies have reached us, said the players. “What happened to the six balls we got, the other equipment? Why is the ground-in-charge not making it possible? Why is the ground water-logged at first rain, while we had no such issue some years ago? Yes, there’s a swanky gym, but why can’t we use the vacant lot next to it?”
Kumaran has a wish-list. Knock off the gallery and stage, fix the lamps so kabaddi gets daylight at night. On Sundays, 200-300 kids play cricket, this has made the football court uneven, so level designated portions for cricket, football and basketball. Make arrangements to lock the grounds, the watchman leaves at 6 pm.
Boxing girls (30 of them) find the room allotted too dark, and are forced to practise outside. Give us a proper boxing arena, punching bags and a well-lit place for the girls to practise. These kids can box at state level.
Strangely, permission is not granted to hold tournaments during week-ends and holidays. Not many people are able to spend week-days on this. Install proper score-boards/point-boards.
Our basketball tournaments are big. We clean up and maintain the ground as much as we can, but no tournaments have taken place in the last four to five years. We also need a place for indoor games. Most of all, we need coaches.
“Nehru Stadium can help us in this. Will they train around 10 kids in each sport? The Amateur Boxing Association can pitch in to coach the those who take up boxing.”
“With proper equipment and coaching facilities, who knows, Robinson Playground may send out Olympians in several sports-streams.”
