Inauguration of new astroturf project worth Rs 4.50 crore at Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium
To give a further boost to hockey, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi today launched a mega project of Rs 4.50 crore for laying Astroturf at Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium.
The Minister along with MLA Jalandhar West Sushil Rinku and Mayor Jagdish Raj Raja also announced that the stadium will witness the first Pro-Hockey League after the completion of the Astroturf project. Sodhi also announced that another hockey stadium equipped with astroturf, floodlights and other infrastructure would be developed in Jalandhar. He said that hockey players would get state-of-the-art sports facilities after the AstroTurf is built within seven months. The turf was manufactured by USA-based company FieldTurf, which will be laid by Great Sports Tech, Hyderabad. The stadium will also have a sprinkler system along with a tube well.
Reiterating the Punjab Government’s resolve to promote hockey at the grassroots level, the Minister appointed Olympian and Dronacharya Awardee Rajinder Singh Jr as the Chief Hockey Coach. He also handed over the appointment letter to the juniors on the occasion, assuring them of all support and cooperation to achieve the task assigned to them.
Unveiling the poster and T-shirt of the Pro-Hockey League, Sodhi said that the league will be organized by Surjit Hockey Society with the participation of 20 teams from different categories. The Sports Minister said that every effort is being made by the State Sports Department to promote sports and to produce players of national and international level. Hence, the state government has increased the prize money apart from providing government jobs to sportspersons of national and international repute. He said that the Punjab Government is fully committed to ensure high-end sports infrastructure in the state so that the sportspersons can secure place in national and international competitions.
