New stadium gives boost to sports-crazy Dadupur village
LUCKNOW: Sport is in the DNA of people of Dadupur village in Banthara, almost 20-km away from the state capital. It is the biggest unifying factor for the people here, with each household in the village of 2000 boasting of at least one sportsperson.
It was in the early 1960s that the youngsters formed the Super Star Club and disciplines like kabaddi and volleyball became their daily diet of entertainment.
Sport didn’t just remain a fun thing and soon became a source of livelihood for many from the area as not only did they start winning laurels but also got jobs in schools, railways, para-military forces and police.
Talk to anyone in this ‘modern village’ now about the contribution of sports in changing their lives and they would tell you about a large number of games teachers, national and international-level sportspersons, coaches and even sports officers from this village serving the country at different locations. People like DK Singh Chauhan, LB Singh Chauhan, Shiv Naresh Singh, Gyanendra Singh, Akhilesh Sharma, CG Shukla, Narendra Singh Chauhan etc., are the living examples of this belief.
“Sports are our DNA and even now many from our village are in sports hostels and sports colleges across the state. Even I myself grew up watching my brothers and uncles playing sport, and today the next generation is following the tradition with the same spirit and enthusiasm,” says national medallist in swimming Narendra Singh Chauhan, who has now been busy in monitoring the construction of a multipurpose mini stadium in the area.
“I myself learnt the basics of swimming in the local canal in the village before being selected in the government-run sports hostel and even my younger brother Sarvendra went on representing India in international swimming event,” he said, adding, “Sport has been the life-line of the people here as getting a job as well as social recognition have become easy through sport.”
He, however, said having a stadium in the village was his long standing dream since long. “I was dreaming for a stadium in the area ever since I joined the railways here as I always wanted not to let the next generation travel for training from Dadupur to Lucknow. Now, our youth can think of a stadium of their own for daily training of volleyball, kabaddi, badminton, wrestling and weightlifting,” says Chauhan, a TTE in North Eastern Railway.
“When the government announced the scheme to have a stadium in every village in the state, I convinced my father and gram pradhan Surendra Singh Chauhan to opt for this scheme and we started the planning only last year and after starting the work in this March only before the lockdown, we have completed the construction of almost 70 percent of facilities.”
The stadium, which is being constructed on 2.5 beegha land, is the first of its kind in the surroundings of the state capital and the construction work has been proving a boon for the migrant labourers, who have come all the way from other parts of India after some relief in the lockdown due to the pandemic COVID19.
“There are 35-40 migrant labourers working on the construction site of the stadium now days under the MANREGA scheme, and this has been helping them in getting daily wages as they were looking for jobs after coming back home from Delhi and Mumbai,” adds Chauhan, who also has plan to construct a 400m running track.
“We have plans to establish 400m running track also in the stadium even though it would a little jig-jag. Boundary wall has been erected as well as the gate of the stadium, and now days the road around the stadium is being constructed. We have already spent Rs 5-6 lakh from our own pocket till now, but hoping to get the government support soon.”