SILIGURI: Coaching centre for shuttlers
Posted by barunroy on November 24, 2008
FROM THE TELEGRAPH
The indoor stadium. (Kundan Yolmo)
Siliguri, Nov.23: The town is going to have its first badminton academy here by January. The project will be taken up by Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) in association with Bengal Badminton Academy (BBA).
“Officials from BBA came to meet me last month and we had a discussion on the formation of a full fledged badminton academy. They have agreed to help us,” said Bikash Ghosh, the mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation, who also sanctioned Rs 1 lakh from the civic fund for the project.
“The name of the proposed academy would be Siliguri Municipal Corporation Badminton Academy and it would function from Siliguri Indoor Stadium,” Ghosh said. “We had decided to establish an academy much earlier. Like table tennis, this sport is played here regularly and we have good infrastructure with an indoor stadium, which can accommodate a lot of trainees at a time. After considering all these factors, we have decided to start the academy.”
The civic body will ask different schools and clubs to send players aged between 7 and 13 years. Shuttlers for the academy would be chosen from these youngsters.
“There will be four courts inside the stadium, where players will be trained. We will start with at least 30 players from here. Coaches will be provided by BBA, and will come from Calcutta,” Mayor said.
Earlier there were three coaching centres, which functioned regularly, but currently there is only one. “It is indeed a welcome initiative taken by SMC. This will not only popularise the game, but also help to elevate the talents from the town and its surrounding areas,” said Swapan Bose, the secretary of Darjeeling District Badminton Association.
