Manorama Club Award: Chakkalakkal HSS Sports Academy soars to new heights
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Kozhikode: Football and volleyball are the most popular games at Madavoor and Koduvally, two neighbourhood villages located on the eastern side of Kozhikode district. The Chakkalakkal HSS Sports Academy at Madavoor, one of the three finalists for the Manorama Sports Club Award 2023, has gained prominence over the years by unearthing young talents from villages in the region and honing their skills at grassroots levels. The academy has produced many talented sportspersons, including female athletes, who have won honours at the national level.
The Chakkalakkal HSS Sports Academy was founded in 2017 by P M Riyas, a mathematics teacher and national-level medal winner. The academy became a force to reckon with in Kerala's sports landscape after the likes of K Santhosh and Mohammed Ashique, physical education teachers at the school, put great effort into making the project a success.
Currently, the academy provides free training to hundreds of aspiring children in disciplines such as rugby, cycle polo, sepak takraw, arm wrestling, and mountaineering. Riyas is the chairman of the academy, while Santhosh and P K Anwar are vice-chairmen. The other office-bearers are P Abdul Latheef (convener), A Shaji (joint convener), and P Jaleel (treasurer).
Over the last seven years, around 1,000 academy products have represented the state in various categories. In 2023 alone, as many as 112 trainees took part in state-level championships and 64 children secured Plus One seats under sports quota.
Two rugby players, C C Punya Das and P Fathima Najah, were called up to the national team camp. The academy also clinched the title in sub-junior category and finished runners-up in junior section in the state leg of the Khelo India Women's Rugby League. Five of the academy products represented Kerala at the national junior rugby championship while four donned the state colours at the senior championship. All the members of the Kozhikode district team, which emerged winners at the state junior championship for girls, were from the Chakkalakkal HSS Sports Academy.
At the state sepak takraw championship, five academy products represented the Kozhikode district team in the junior category. In the sub-junior section, there were three in the district team which finished on the podium.
In the national cycle polo championship, five HSS Sports Academy trainees represented Kerala in different categories. The academy came up with a stellar show at the state cycle polo championship by winning as many as 13 medals.
In the senior, junior, and sub-junior categories of the state-level tug-of-war championship, many academy products have won medals. They have clinched as many as 16 medals at the national championships as well. The academy has produced as many as 35 national-level players over the years. So far, the HSS Sports Academy trainees have won around 80 medals in different disciplines at state-level championships.