The Diego Football Park in Akuram; the wood-based cricket stadium in Chanthavila, which is the first in Kerala.  

Until the turn of the century, almost every other part of the city once had a playground, either unused land or fallow rice fields.

In the evening, children and adults used to gather on these fields for fierce football or cricket matches. Then, slowly, these lands began to disappear, making way for apartment buildings and high-rise buildings.

Cricket and football matches are moved to narrow streets and alleys, and even to mobile screens. The story of the disappearance of the playground even attracted the attention of the Malayalam film industry. They released the film "Rakshadhikari Baiju Oppu", which sensitively solved this problem.

However, some people saw an opportunity in this crisis. In November 2018, a group of four football fans working in different fields gathered to establish the city's first artificial football turf in Chanthavila. Known as the arena of the Friday Football Club (FFC), the floodlit turf is equipped with an effective rainwater drainage system, which allows matches to be played around the clock in almost all weather conditions.

"The reason we started doing this is of course our passion for football. Turf culture has been popular in overseas cities and cities outside of Kerala for many years. We used to play these when traveling and during my stay in Bangalore. Six years. Earlier, when I moved to Thiruvananthapuram, I realized that the city lacks such facilities. It is not easy to obtain even for normal reasons. So the four of us got together to raise funds together, The turf was built in Chanthavila. S. Balagopal, one of the founders of the FFC Arena, said: “Although the location is a bit remote, many football players are starting to come here. The two founders work in the IT field, one is a doctor and the other is in the telecommunications industry.

Soon, professional and amateur football players began to flood the arena, and bookings for weeks were full. However, the FFC team did not stop there. On Saturday, they opened a wood-based cricket pitch near the football field, which is the first such turf in Kerala.

"Although cricket is very popular here, we don't have such facilities here. We only have net practice facilities in the stadium. This is a huge risk we take and pools revenue from the football field," Mr. Baragopal Say.

The success of FFC has brought more players. In the past year and a half, the number of football stadiums in the city has risen to about 20, most of which are concentrated in the Kazhakuttam area, focusing on football fans in the IT industry. However, turf also appeared in areas such as Vattiyoorkavu and Ambalathara.

The Diego Football Park in Akuram is one of the few lawns open 24 hours a day. It is remote and there are no houses nearby, so don't worry about causing trouble to your neighbors. One of the frequent visitors here is a group of migrant workers who work in nearby restaurants. They arrived here on the weekend and the game started at 2 am, when almost the entire city was sleeping.

“We opened this turf a year ago. Although my original plan was to set up it in Kochi, my cousin persuaded me to come here. Most of the visitors are 14-40 years old, from students to IT employees go to teams in coastal areas, and everyone is involved. Teams made up of only women from IT companies also occasionally come to participate in games," said Harry Xavier, one of the owners of Diego Football Park. Say.

According to IT employee Aneez, the comfort and flexible schedule have transformed him from playing on the field to playing on the grass.

"In ordinary venues, you can only play in the morning or at night. For professionals like me, this does not have much flexibility. On the turf, we can even play late at night. In the artificial turf Playing under floodlights gives a feeling of playing on a real football field and is the highlight of a lawn game. However, we must book at least one week in advance to ensure that we have a venue to play," he said.

Another IT employee, Rajeev Krishnan, said that the prosperity of football turf led to the creation of exclusive turf tournaments.

"I have used Monday and Wednesday for grass competitions. I often go to Khel Turf opposite Infosys and Turf near Travancore shopping mall. Because we have formed a team for this, we will go together at the designated time." He said.

Most people who open up turf rented land for this purpose. The initial investment is between 50 and 7.5 million rupees, depending on the quality of the turf materials, most of which are imported. The length of artificial grass blades is in the range of 50-60 mm, which determines the quality of the playing field. The hourly rate for lawns ranges from 1,000 rupees to 2,500 rupees, depending on the quality of the lawn and the time of day.

"Because this is a five-a-side or seven-a-side game, we will have 10 to 14 people. They can easily raise money. Each person only needs about 100 rupees, which is not too much for a high-quality football stadium. ," said Mr. . Aniz.

Our editorial values

Printable version | December 8, 2021 2:45:39 PM | https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/turning-tonew-turfsas-playgrounds-vanish/article30497871.ece

© THG Publishing PVT Co., Ltd.

Video of Kerala's all-female rainforest troops protecting the Western Ghats

Video features of the 1,000-bed oxygen bed facility envisioned by Ernakulam, Kerala