Kovalam FC to become first club in Kerala to have its own practice facility

KOCHI: Kovalam FC , a small professional football club from Thiruvananthapuram , is all set to become the first club in Kerala to have their own practice facility. Apart from a very few clubs like Mohun Bagan and East Bengal FC, not many in India have this luxury. The new stadium which is situated at Arumanoor near Neyyattinkara will be inaugurated on August 17 (Saturday).

Constructed with natural turf under Fifa standards, the new stadium has a length of 96m and a width of 64m. With a seating capacity of 5,000 in the initial phase, the club authorities have plans to expand the gallery to 15,000 within two years.

"We have been struggling to find a proper training facility for our kids. Most of them are from the coastal areas of Kovalam and Vizhinjam and they need to travel almost 35 kilometres daily to our training venue at Central Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram. The new stadium will help us reduce travelling time and give them more time to practice," said Ebin Rose, coach and one of the founders of Kovalam FC.

The current project also includes a hostel facility for the Kovalam FC Academy's students and the total budget comes around Rs 3 crore. The stadium is constructed in the land owned by MV HSS, Arumanoor for a lease period of 25 years. "Kovalam FC will be providing coaching to the students of MV HSS and will develop a football team in the coming years. Kovalam will be responsible for all the football-related activities of the school from now onwards as per the contract," said Ebin, a former Santosh Trophy winner with the Kerala team.

"Our immediate plan is to play next year's second division I-league. We aim to play in I-league in next couple of years as second division champions. It might sound difficult but I have strong belief in my players. Also, all our matches in Kerala Premier League from next edition will be held in our own stadium. It's an achievement which no other club in the state can boast of, even Kerala Blasters or Gokulam Kerala FC," added Ebin.