Port city is like one more city within Chittagong city. Port staff have access to all kinds of basic facilities, namely, residence, school, and colleges for their kids and dependents, prayer facility for various religion, marketplace and hospital and healthcare facility for the entire family. Needless to say, such a commune cannot be complete without a quality facility for games and sports. As such, the authority has built up a state-of-the-art sports complex for all, especially the youth of the community. The complex provides ample practice facilities for games, like football, badminton, basketball, and chess with the view to produce national level stars from these fields in near future.
The port sports complex began its journey in 2015. The then Port Chairman Rear Admiral Nizamuddin Ahmed laid down the foundation stone of the complex. By the following year, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan MP officially inaugurated the complex.
The young family members and dependents of the port staff can also attain the privileges available at the complex. Different sessions are conducted for learners of different age-groups like students from class one to five in one group and from class six to twelve in the other. The complex has an outdoor area of 24,000 square feet while the indoor stadium is 22,000 square feet.
Primary learners practice football and cricket at the outdoor area while intermediate and higher level students practice in the stadium adjacent to the complex. Separate zones have also been marked for the practice of football and cricket in the stadium.
Indoor zone of the sports complex is a beautiful setup furnished with various types of sports facilities. It has one court for badminton, basketball, volleyball in addition to two tables for the table tennis zealots. It also has an international standard cricket turf where the players can perform the net practice. On the ground floor of the 3-storey building beside the main complex, there are separate dressing rooms for the males and females. There is a modern gymnasium equipped with modern gears besides an abundant supply of fresh drinking water. The first floor has a classroom for the learners, conference room and rooms for Chief Advisor, Director, Deputy-director and chess instructors. The 2nd floor is mainly used for holding seminars and guardian meetings. A plan is already underway to introduce karate lessons in the curriculum in coming days.
The sports complex has provision for light snacks and soft drinks for the participants. In a separate room, there is a heat stroke and trauma center that provides first aid facility as well as all the essential medicines. Medicine specialist on sports can provide treatment in case of an accident during the games. The training sessions run by the complex are divided into two shifts (Saturday-Monday-Wednesday and Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday) in a week for the convenience of the learners. By rule, all practitioners are obliged to submit their academic results to the complex. Judging on their academic performances, one might be barred from attending the practice for a period of up to six months. The complex arranges parent’s meeting on a regular interval to advise and counsel the young learners in order to develop physical and mental ability to excel in sports and academics.
Anyone willing to join will need to apply first over a prescribed form providing all necessary information about him/her. In addition, the applicant will submit 2 passport size photographs, birth certificate and photocopies of NIDs of the parents. With the given info, a profile will be prepared and stored in the master database. Once the procedure is over, each is given an identity card that serves as the entry-pass to the complex.
Over the last two years, noted veteran sports celebrities got involved in this complex. Ex-player of the national team Aftab Ahmed Chowdhury is the instructor for cricket coaching here, while ex-player of Dhaka Mohammedan Sporting Club Jamal Uddin Faruque is engaged as the football coach. There are trainers for basketball and badminton too. For his excellence, Shahriar Alam from this sports complex has already been invited to the under-14 national cricket camp. In the meantime, the sports complex has organized under-15 cricket tournament titled ‘Chairman’s Cup’ at its own premises. The home team clinched the title competing against eight teams that participated in the tournament.
As part of the upgrading process, there is a plan to include one basketball ground, one lawn tennis court and one swimming pool to the existing facilities. Moreover, the complex is procuring bowling machines from England.
With the right support and apt guidance, the complex aims to flourish as one of the finest sports centers in Chittagong city and will cater better to the sports lovers from all walks of life in the community.
This article was published in Bandarbarta- a monthly premier Bengali magazine on maritime.
