Mysuru: When almost all the cricket coaching camps across the city are collecting fee, is The Mysore Gymkhana is conducting a six-week cricket coaching camp free of cost for the tenth consecutive year at the Railway Sports Ground opposite to CFTRI main gate and adjacent to Maharaja’s College Sports Pavilion from April 2. Former Indian speedster and KSCA Secretary Javagal Srinath is a product of The Mysore Gymkhana and during his leisure time he is also expected to attend the camp and provide his valuable inputs to budding cricketers.
In a country where cricket is inarguably considered a religion, the craze for learning the game is justifiable. The emergence of the cricket-frenzy generation has led to the mushrooming of summer camps across the city. With an aim to provide opportunity to all the interested children, The Mysore Gymkhana has been organising annual free cricket coaching camps for the past nine years. Every year, the number of participants is growing. The camp will be held at two venues, Railway Sports Ground near CFTRI main gate and adjacent to Maharaja Ground. At both the venues there will be two batches, from 6.30 am to 9 am and between 4 pm and 6 pm.
T Ravindra, Secretary of The Mysore Gymkhana said, “To start with, i.e., from 1981 to 2005, it was not a free camp. We used to take a nominal fee but to commemorate our 25 years we conducted a free camp in 2006 and since then we are continuing to do so for budding cricketers. Though since 2006, we are conducting camps free of cost, at any point of time we have not compromised on the quality of training and in fact, every year we are improving the quality of training and providing all the latest information to budding cricketers.”
“The intention of conducting free camps is to provide opportunity to everyone and also not to unnecessarily burden the parents. There are talented children but many are not in a position to afford the fees or equipment needed for the sport. At the same time, there are children who discontinue cricket after the completion of the camp. Today, if parents want to send their children for such camps, they need to spend nearly Rs 4,000 which includes camp fee and cricket kits. This is not affordable for the middle class. If the children are not interested to continue the game, the money will go waste. Considering all these facts, we decided to conduct free coaching. At the end of the camp, 15 to 20 talented children are identified and given free training for one year. Through these camps, we can also pick promising cricketers for club matches”, added Ravindra.
The camp will be looked after by KSCA-trained coaches S Vijayprakash, T Ravindra, Sujanendra, H S Raghavan, P Ashok, C G Jagdeesh Kumar, Devanand and Bharath. Those interested to attend the free camp can avail applications at the both the above said venues or call on mobile number 9845826295.
