79th Kila Raipur Sports Festival 2015 was from 29th January till 1st of February. During the visit, we had an opportunity to meet and talk with Jagbir Grewal – Organizer of the Grewal Sports Association (an autonomous body having 150 members) and Kila Raipur sports festival. Upon the query about The History of Kila Raipur Sports Festival, he shared knowledge as follows:
In 1932-33 our ancestors from Kila Raipur and nearby villages visited Amritsar to play games and won a cup – which is till dated with us. After winning the cup great grandfather and his group of friends collectively decided to start games here at Kila Raipur. Thus, Kila Raipur Sports Festival started is currently 79th year.
Kila Raipur Stadium is a self-owned stadium i.e., a private stadium. I – Jagbir Grewal joined as a member in 1990 about 25 years ago. Sukhvir Grewal is the chief organizer of the Kila Raipur Sports Festival.
Our future plans are to make it a big sports academy by installing hockey turf, and tracks for athletics but we need support though we have members related to sports. Currently corporate such as Maruti Suzuki, and MRF are the main title sponsors. The very first time when we visited a corporate Coca-Cola – we received Rs. 50,000. Later we hired an event management company for sponsorship requirements.
In this 79th game athletics, kabaddi, hockey, horse race, dog race, and traditional games are the major events. We also invited singers from Punjab for entertainment evenings.
This festival years ago was participated by my great grandfather and grandfather also. They played Hockey, and Kabaddi. My father Apchal Singh Grewal represented Punjab in hockey during pre-partition. My uncle represented Punjab University in Hockey. And my big brother Rupinder Grewal was the first person to be selected for the Indian Airlines hockey team. Sukvir Grewal – The current chief organizer played for India in the 1978 Asian Games and was the coach of the Indian Hockey Team 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. I too played hockey in college and university. Hockey is somewhat like our family game.
I question – Have you met great hockey legend – Dhyanchand?
He said – Yes and even met Ashok Dhyanchand – the son of the legendary Dhyanchand.
Fantastic history. Thanks for sharing. And we proceed towards the stadium office to watch history represented via framed photographs.