Kalinga Stadium’s warm-up ground to be thrown open to students

Bhubaneswar: Students from schools, colleges and Universities can take advantage of the world-class warm-up stadium of the Kalinga Stadium. The Odisha government is planning to encourage educational institutions which do not have their own tracks and grounds to make use of the facilities of the Kalinga Stadium.

“We will now encourage all schools, colleges and universities which do not have their own tracks to come here and use the facilities that we have set up. The scheme is now on the anvil. We are also planning to host national & international-level meets. The main stadium will only be for competitions while warm-up ground can be used by others,” said secretary of Sports and Youth Affairs Vishal Dev.

Commenting on the proposed High Performance Academy, Dev said “A round of discussion has already been held. The next round is scheduled next month in Delhi with the central government and the AFI. We are currently working out the details of the structure. We will take AFI’s help in coach selection while the international association will have a role in sending specialists. The equipment bought for the Asian Athletics Championships will be used for the High Performance Academy.”