AFSC closes down

PUNE, Sept 7: It is finally curtains for the Armed Forces Sports College AFSC in Ghorpuri. Eight years after it was set up by the Servi...

PUNE, Sept 7: It is finally curtains for the Armed Forces Sports College AFSC in Ghorpuri. Eight years after it was set up by the Services Sports Control Board to become the only nursery for Services sportsmen, the institute is being shut down.

It apparently failed to produce results.

8220;The news is bad. Maybe the higher-ups have something special in mind,8221; said Brigadier GRC Nair, the first commandant of the AFSC who now commands the Army School of Physical Training.

8220;I do have fond memories of AFSC. In the first four years, when we at the AFSC imparted training in five disciplines, the Services teams topped the nationals in junior and senior boxing; in cross-country, it was my boys 8212; both in the junior and senior sections 8212; who set the pace. And in marathon, Services won everywhere,8221; recalled Brigadier Nair.

8220;Maybe they are closing the AFSC because nothing was coming out lately. After all, the institute had been set up with the objective of producing sportsmen of international standards.8221;

Boxers Dinko Singh, Devendra Thapa, Lakha Singh, Lawrence Siddhi, Thoiba Singh, Narendra Rana, Jeevan Fernandes, runners like Abhay Singh, Sandhura Singh, Giridharilal and walkers Baldev Singh and Gurmeet Singh were the few major products of the AFSC.

After 1994, the year when AFSC products really blazed the national tracks, the decline became apparent. 8220;The institute8217;s annual maintenance cost was anything between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 20 lakh. Last year, there were enough indications that the institute was to be closed because it was not earmarked a single paisa,8221; an AFSC official said.

Southern Command spokesman DJ Narain confirmed that 8220;directives have been received from the head office in Delhi to close down the AFSC and a board has been appointed to look into its assets.8221;

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8220;The centre is to be reshaped as the Boys Sports College. It would train members of the eight existing boys sports companies spread across the country under one roof,8221; Narain said.

Bombay Engineering Group, Khadki; Madras Engineering Group, Bangalore; Maratha Light Infantry, Belgaum; Kumaon Regiment, Ranikhet; Sikh Regiment, Jalandhar and the artillery centres at Nashik and Hyderabad are the centres now having boys sports company.

The AFSC will officially cease to exist from December 31. Over to the Boys Sports College then.

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