Games for life

The vision of three dedicated persons has provided kids in Bangalore with a unique Sportz Village where they can 
discover the magic of sports

Here today gone tomorrow that is the story, in brief, of playgrounds in the city. Kids do not have enough safe space these days to go out and play with their friends after a hard day of studying at school. Public parks have not been developed to suit their needs and playgrounds, too, are not maintained or equipped with safety devices. 

This lack of safe playing space for kids has prompted three young men in the city to give up their lucrative careers and take up the cause of providing kids with enough space to play team games. And not just play, but also provide them a sports programme that will make playing fun apart from giving the kids an opportunity to hone their skills with help from special coaches.

Kids growing up in urban India seldom have the opportunity to have fun and play too, says Jayashankar B who, along with Sunil Majumdar and Jitendra Joshi, is developing Sportz Village at HSR Layout near Koramangala. All of them have played a team sport at the state level. In summer, coaching camps are held for a few weeks, then the child goes back to school and forgets about the game till the next summer. At Sportz Village, kids can come in at a timing of their choice, play the game they want to, learn how to play it well and as a member of a team throughout the year.

The playing field is the best laboratory for learning, adds Dr George Selleck, Advisor, Sportz Village. Selleck, who was in city for the launch of this new venture on September 30, is the founder of Sports for Life in California, USA, which promotes the concept that every skill necessary to prepare young adults to become better members or leaders of their community can be learned through involvement in the sports experience. Sellecks initiative has created locally driven programmes to enrich sports in communities across the US.

The vision of Sportz Village is to build a sporting culture in India and make sports an integral part of the childs education and upbringing. The trio behind this unique concept will provide a safe and well equipped place for play, plan a programme of play that is infused with loads of fun, introduce Indian children to the idea of sports as a way of life and provide positive character-building experiences through team sports. In a nutshell, Sportz Village will try to change the manner in which children and parents look at sports, says Jayashankar.

Sportz Village is situated on verdant space in HSR Layout (Opposited KEB Sub-Station), Koramanagala. Mini football, handball, basket ball and throwball courts are in place. Theres even a tiny rectangle where aspiring cricketers can have net practice. Sportz Village is also equipped with floodlight towers for evening games. All the coaches have been trained to work with children.

We are looking at kids in the age group of five to fifteen, explains Jayashankar. Kids who wish to take advantage of the facilties here will have to sign up for a membership package. Members will be entitled to play for about 90 minutes three days a week either in the morning or evenings for about Rs 320 per month.

For further details, call 5702683/ 2684/ 2685 or email: jay@sportzvillage.com. The url is http://www.sportzvillage.com/

PA