A 185-metre long synthetic banked roller skating rink at Kannadi, Palakkad.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The long-cherished dream of Kerala children to have a professional synthetic banked roller skating track is coming true.
Such a track coming up in Palakkad will be the first synthetic rink in the State for roller skating, thanks to four enthusiasts from here.
When Minister for Power K. Krishnankutty inaugurates Yaswanth’s Academy of Roller Skating at Tharuvakurissi, Kannadi, on March 11 evening, it will be a milestone for a sport that is increasingly becoming popular in Kerala.
“At present, dozens of parents from Kerala are taking their children to Coimbatore every day for training and practice, as there is not a single rink in our State. Although children from the State are excelling in almost all sporting events at the national level, we become mere spectators in roller skating not because our children lack in skills, but because we do not have the facilities,” said S. Vinod and Anoop Dev, two of the four promoters of Yaswanth’s Academy.
When States like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have many synthetic tracks, Kerala has none.
Mr. Vinod and Mr. Dev said they used to take their children to Coimbatore at 4 a.m. every day and return by 8 a.m. after a couple of hours training in roller skating on synthetic tracks there. “We would take them again to Coimbatore after school hours in the evening. A lot of people have been taking so much pain to train their children in professional tracks,” they said.
Mr. Dev and Mr. Vinod have joined hands with Manoj K. Das and Yaswanth B. Das to set up the rink at a cost of ₹70 lakh. The 185-metre banked track will be good for hosting national and international events.
In Kerala, roller skating events are held in 50 to 60-metre-long volleyball and basketball courts. “A child trained in such a court cannot compete in a 200-metre event in a baked track at the national level,” said Mr. Yaswanth, himself a skater. Sanoop Salim, currently the fastest skater in Kerala, will be offering coaching to the children at Yaswanth’s Academy.
“This is a speed sport. A child skates at a speed of 50 kmph on an average, and they can go up to 70 kmph. A synthetic banked rink is a must for professional training in roller skating,” said Mr. Vinod. The national record in 100-metre event is 9.60 seconds.
Abhijith Amal Raj, the Malayali boy who won gold medal in World Roller Skating Championship held in Barcelona in 2019, will be felicitated at the inaugural of Yaswanth’s Academy.
“We know that we cannot run this track for profit. It is like the investment we make for our house. We want people in other parts of Kerala to get inspiration from ours, and they should build better tracks. If it is confined to Palakkad alone, then it is bad for the sport,” said Mr. Vinod.
