It is a welcoming note for Trivandrumites, who have always longed for better fitness and sporting opportunities within the city limits. The Trivandrum Sports Hub with state- of- the- art sporting infrastructure is growing up to the international level with its operations extending from personal health care to community relations and to hosting global sporting events.
The Sports Hub, built over 37 acres, is completely integrated sports and leisure complex, the first of its kind in India. The facility constitutes a 50,000-capacity international cricket cum football stadium, retail outlets, clubhouse, convention centre guest rooms etc. The project was a brainchild of Government of Kerala and got promoted extensively through the National Games Secretariat, a body formed by Government of Kerala to boost the growth of sports infrastructure and to encourage the youngsters in the State to take up sports. The stadium is located in Kariavattom in the city of Trivandrum in Kerala. The stadium is currently operated by the Kariavattom Sports Facilities which is a subsidiary of IL&FS Transportation Network Ltd. and is recognised by the Kerala Cricket Association.
Ajay Padmanabhan, Chief Operating Officer (IL&FS) talks to Brand Kerala on the most happening place of the city. “The Sports Hub is providing a space for people to do a myriad of sports activities. The facilities provided in the Sports Hub are world class. It is like a complete package, complied with every standard what FIFA and ICC professionals are looking for. Our idea is to make this stadium as a Center of Excellence for various sports activities. We have restaurants and a convention centre other than the playgrounds” says Ajay.
The Sports Hub has become India’s first public-private partnership in the development of a cricket cum football stadium, meeting the highest international standards. Ajay adds, “This is the right place for the talented. Only thing is they need proper training and platforms to take them to the next level. Here, they are trained to compete for Olympic medals. In countries like Australia, USA, Europe and China, the talents of children are identified at the age of five or six. Talent scouts are happening, and they have an ultimate programme for the same. They are trained like champions, treated like champions, and mentally they are prepared well to take up challenges. But here what happens is when the talent of a student is identified; he/she might have turned 15 or 16. Then they are given rigorous training, and it’s already late, and ultimately the performance graph goes down.”
Ajay adds, “we aim to take some initiatives to identify talents in children from his or her younger age. People like Dave Whatmore, Anil Kumble, Vimal Kumar are here to train our students. In Anil Kumble’s Cricket Academy, they are trained in multiple levels. Our students are winning various meets as we are giving them the proper training and diet. Various federations and associations are actively supporting us as we are providing facilities at par with international standards. We have plans to become a part of Sports tours, to take our students to other countries and make them perform in various weather conditions.”
The land in which the stadium is situated is owned by the University of Kerala and has been taken for lease. The 55,000 capacity stadium which boasts of DBOT infrastructure was built at the cost of around 240 crores, making it one of the costliest stadiums built in the country.
“The major advantage of having this Sports hub in Trivandrum is that, when a match is planned more than 2000 rooms are needed for officials and others. Many people will make a visit and that helps the city to get noticed. Every city requires some kind of social infrastructure. It’s a fact that across the world, stadiums make money by hosting big events. The sports facilities include two swimming pools, the indoor one has temperature controlling system and the other one is of Olympic standards. Then there are cricket practice nets, football practice grounds, tennis courts, basketball courts, squash courts, table tennis courts, areas for chess, caroms, billiards etc. We have a gymnasium which is probably the best in South India. The most advanced technology has been installed here. In addition to this, we have convention centers too. Our focus is to host not only marriages but also MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events). Our convention centers can manage around 15,000 people. There is a Carnival theatre complex with four screens. There is another theatre with luxurious seats where you can lie down and watch movies. Rooms with minimum four star deluxe facilities and luxurious dining spaces are coming up.” he explains. The Travancore Gymkhana Club inside the hub anchors all the other activities outside the stadium. The stadium is just one entity, and all other activities are coming under the Travancore Gymkhana club. As many clubs provide individual memberships, this one gives family membership. Women wellness is another initiative taken by the hub to promote women to use gym, pools and related facilities.
“As per the norms of ICC, first we will have to host a certain number of Ranji matches and domestic matches. They have given the permission to host T20 matches. After the successful hosting of T20, they would give permission for one day match. Then, test matches would follow. But, I think the BCCI and KCA were very generous to us; because, without conducting Ranji matches they gave us permission for T20. By November, we will host one day match and from next year onwards we would be hosting test matches too. Ours is the 52nd international venue in India. We are planning to get the drop-in pitch technology. That means the pitch can be taken and moved out and then we could make it ideal for football matches. Very soon we are going to get help from a Dutch player who would come here and train our students. We are planning another initiative, Obstacle Sports. This is for the corporates to conduct event like team building. The Kerala Tourism Department is on a mission to promote Kerala as an adventure sports location and we also would like to travel in the same direction. At the same time, some are making issues regarding the hosting of big corporate events here. They actually don’t know that the ground is made to conduct any kind of events and moreover the grass will get immunized only if we host events here. Otherwise the whole ground is likely to get destroyed,’’ says Ajay. The stadium already has hosted mega events like ‘Vanitha Film Awards Event” accommodating 7000 people, ‘Amma Mazhavillu’ programme, accommodating 30,000 people and another show “International Dance Biennale” would be conducted soon. 35,000 people are expected for this event. Last year the Children’s Summer Camp was conducted with 300 children, but this year the number rose to 1000. This was done in association with SMRA (Sports & Management Research Institute). The hub is going to collaborate with them and conduct grass root activities for children. Corporate Day Out is a special programme offered to those who wish to spend a day in the hub and get involved in the activities of the place.
