Mumbai: Academy hopes to help Powai get its sporting groove on

Ace act: Poet-lyricist Gulzar saab shows off his tennis skills

The Powai community got a new sports facility, Emma Sports Academy, which opened over the weekend. The centre, which is located within Hiranandani Complex, behind the Hiranandani Hospital is sprawling and has four tennis courts, two football turfs, a cricket practice field and basketball facilities.

The opening

On Saturday, November 13, evening at the inauguration, chief guest ‘Gulzar saab' showed off his tennis skills. The legendary poet-lyricist wields a formidable tennis racket on the courts, and at a spry 82, can attribute his fitness to the court game. Gulzar stated at the opening, "Looking at the facilities around me, rather than speaking, one would be better off playing."

The court calling: Emma Academy sport amongst urban sprawl. Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

There are table tennis facilities, a chess room and space for fitness activities. A roller-skating space and putting facility for golfers gives another dimension to Emma Academy. Even with the push on becoming a multi-sports nation on the international stage, we are still light years behind some countries that have much more sporting infra for their youngsters, these are literally free or very inexpensive and around the corner. How many times have you heard stories about champions beginning their journey, at a humble park or even ramshackle court before being ‘spotted' by a coach or even sportsperson and then moving on to better and bigger avenues in their quest for sporting stardom?

Small steps

Emma Academy promoter Joseph Mathew said, "Powai is an urban sprawl now, and we see the same crush and concretisation here as in other parts of Mumbai. It is not just Powai though but the entire country itself that needs more sporting infra. One way of getting the community involved in sport is giving them access to facilities, that is how simple it is. The Powai Academy, named after my granddaughter Emma, is a grassroots one, its aim is not elite athletes but beginnings towards honing talent in different sporting disciplines. It is from small steps that elite athletes are made. Having been fortunate enough to travel overseas, I have witnessed firsthand how we need to build our infra and the lacunae we have for sports. This is my small contribution towards filling in that. This academy does not automatically mean we will start churning champions for an Olympic podium finish, it simply means paving the path for youngsters which can eventually lead to greater things," finished the Bandra entrepreneur who is a keen trekker, tennis player and runner.

Podium perspective

While Olympic podium finishes may seem a distant dream, Mumbai's Mervyn Fernandis, hockey Olympian, has been roped in to manage operations at Emma Academy. Said Fernandis, "I have retired from Air India two years ago, and now play sport, especially racket lawn tennis. Though there is no hockey facility at the Academy, being a sportsman means having an understanding and perspective of all sports. I bring in experience and am hoping to create a real sporting ethos within the Powai community. Curiosity even to try a certain sport, may stoke a fire within."