Hills to get Hockey academy and stadium : Land donated by Former Indian National Hockey team captain and Olympian Bharat Chettri

Foundation stone of Bharat Chettri Hockey Academy laid for boys and girls of Hills and adjoining places

Amitava Banerjee  |  MP  |  30 Aug 2023 : Anit Thapa, Chief Executive Member, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for the first ever hockey stadium and academy. 

The stadium and academy will be built at the 16th Mile near Kalimpong. “I propose to name the Hockey Academy as ‘Bharat Chettri Hockey Academy.’ The boys and girls from our Hills and adjoining places will be trained here. 

One day our children will certainly play for our country. It is a proud moment for all of us. This kind of a hockey academy is coming up for the first time not only in Darjeeling Hills but in the entire North Bengal,” added Thapa. 

The land is donated by Bharat Chettri. Incidentally, former Indian National Hockey team captain and Olympian Bharat Chettri met Anit Thapa in Kurseong on May 23 with the proposal of establishing a hockey academy in the GTA region. 

He had also submitted a memorandum to this effect. “Establishing a hockey academy in the GTA region will provide an opportunity for the children and youth of the GTA region to participate in state and national hockey games. 

This will not only provide exposure but will also provide employment opportunities through sports reservation,” Chettri had said. 

The former Indian skipper had lamented that despite being a storehouse of talent and taking keen interest in hockey, there is no facility to provide proper training for the children and youth in the GTA region. 

Bharat Chettri is a resident of 16 Mile, Kalimpong. He is a player of the Indian National Hockey team and has won gold medals in 2001 and 2006 Hockey World Cup. He participated in the 2012 Olympic Games and won a bronze medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, a bronze medal in the 2002 Asian Games and a silver medal in 2010. He was honored with the Dhyan Chand Award in 2008. He is a player decorated with Banga Ratna (2016) and Banga Bhushan (2022). 

Chettri has been the Indian women’s and men’s hockey coach for four years. 

Courtesy & source- Millennium Post

https://www.millenniumpost.in/nation/hills-to-get-hockey-academy-and-stadium-531126