This is where VWHA is holding selection trials

Principal Correspondent

NO NETS over the goal posts, ground full of puddles and knee-high grass covering the entire field. Welcome to Vidarbha Women’s Hockey Association’s Tiger’s gap ground off Sadar.
This is the field where the association will be holding selection trials for the Indian Hockey Federation organised 1st junior national championship for boys and girls from September 20 at Pune.
IHF had asked VWHA to send its team for the nationals. Vidarbha Hockey Association too had showed their willingness to select the girls’ team but IHF granted permission to VWHA.
The trials were scheduled to start from September 16 but heavy rains forced VWHA to postpone it. On Saturday, only road running and fitness exercises were performned as per an official statement.
“As the ground was wet we were unable to use it. But we did road running and fitness exercises,” said Pramod Jain, joint secretary, VWHA.
A big lock on the gate welcomed this scribe on Friday morning. When contacted Amod Sarin, secretary, VWHA, said the registration process was done on Thursday and trials will commence from Saturday starting 4 pm.
When asked whether the trials would be held at the same venue, Sarin replied in affirmative.
“Around 40 players have registered with us and will be undergoing the selections trials. The team will be selected in a few days,” she said.
Jain said, “With rains playing spoilsport we tried to shift trials to some other venue but all grounds were wet.”
But the reality is the ground has not been maintained for at least more than a month. The knee-high grass proves the point.
The ground, which has produced several top level hockey players in the region, is now in a shambles.
Vinod Trivedi and his
colleagues, a few months, back tried to level the field with
trucks-load of mud soil. The ground was rolled well and it looked that city would get another playfield exclusively for hockey after the one off Amravati road. But financial constraints forced VWHA to turn a blind eye towards this decades old ground.
“At VWHA, it is hand to mouth situation. We are shelling out money from our pockets for hockey. Maintenance of ground needs a lot of money. We are trying to arrange funds,” said Jain.