Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday inaugurated Naval Tata Hockey Academy at the Kalinga Stadium here.
The academy, which is a joint initiative of Tata Steel, Tata Trusts and Odisha government, will groom the hockey talents in the state for national and international hockey events.
“I hope young olympians will be the products of the centre,” Naveen said.
The government sports hostels in Bhubaneswar, Sundargarh and Rourkela will be the Regional Development Centres (RDCs) and experts engaged by Tata Trusts and Tata Steel will work with them to further enhance their efficiency and excellence.
Ten to 12 grassroots centres will be established initially in Sambalpur and Sundargarh districts. Talents scouted from the grassroots centres will be recommended for admission into the sports hostels, said an official press release.
The grassroots centres and the RDCs will ensure a continuous flow of talent into the NTHA. The government will help develop the infrastructure in these regions to improve the quality of hockey players being fed into the RDCs and NTHA, the release added.
Sports Minister Tusharkanti Behera said Bhubaneswar was fast emerging as the sports capital of India.
“With the establishment of NTHA, youth from the state will get best-in-class training on artificial turf from an early age which will enable the players to compete at par with their international counterparts. This initiative will also help in making high-performance hockey coaches,” said Behera.
CEO and MD, Tata Steel, T. V. Narendran; Director, Sports and Youth Services Department, Vineel Krishna; Vice President (Corporate Services), Tata Steel, Chanakya
Chaudhary and Senior Advisor, Tata Trusts, Burzis Taraporevala were present.
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