Sports in Kerala

Several ancient ritualised arts and sports are Keralite in origin. These include kalaripayattu—kalari (place, threshing floor, or battlefield)[1] and payattu (exercise or "practice). It is considered as one of the world's oldest art and its origin is dated back to 3rd century BC.[2]

Association football is the most popular sport in Kerala, followed by cricket. Kerala Blasters are the most supported football club in the whole state and participates in the Indian super league the top tier of Indian football. Whereas Gokulam Kerala FC a club which plays in the I-league derives most of its support from the Malabar region.[3] However, larger numbers of Keralites also follow sports such as volleyball, hockey, badminton, and kabaddi. There are many large stadiums in Kerala across different cities.Trivandrum city has various sports venues such as Trivandrum International Stadium,[4] Jimmy George Indoor Stadium, University Stadium (Thiruvananthapuram), Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium and Central Stadium whereas Kochi city has stadiums such as Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Kochi)[5] and Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium.[6][7] An international astro turf hockey stadium is located at Kollam city.[8] Other major stadiums are EMS Stadium in Kozhikode,[9] Malappuram District Sports Complex Stadium in Manjeri, Kannur Indoor Stadium in Kannur, Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Kollam[10] and many more.[11] All these stadiums attest to the mass appeal of such sports among Keralites.

Football
Football (soccer) at the Malappuram District Sports Complex Stadium

Football is the most popular sport in the state. The first Indian professional football club FC Kochin was from Kerala. The northern parts of Kerala (Malabar region), especially Kannur, Kozhikode and Malappuram districts, are famous for being notoriously football-crazy regions. Malappuram, Kannur, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Ernakulam and Trivandrum have produced many Indian International footballers such as I. M. Vijayan, V. P. Sathyan , C. V. Pappachan and C. A. Liston. A Seven-a-side version of football is hugely popular in Malappuram, Palakkad, Kozhikode and Kannur.[12] These "Seven's football" tournaments attract many fans and international players for the sheer joy and excitement of fast-paced football.[13]

Most of the professional football clubs in India have many Kerala footballers including Indian internationals Anas Edathodika, Ashique Kuruniyan, Sahal Abdul Samad, N.P Pradeep, Krishnan Nair Ajayan, Zakeer Mundampara, Usman Ashik, C.K. Vineeth, Mohammed Rafi, Denson Devadas, C. S. Sabeeth, Mohamed Irshad, Asif Kottayil, Sushanth Mathew and many more.[14]

Indian Super League
Main article: Kerala Blasters
A view of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium before the 2016 ISL Final

Football became popular in Kerala decades ago. Kochi currently has a club called Kerala Blasters which competes in Indian Super League, one of the India's top football leagues. The Blasters are the most popular football club in Kerala, and one of the most widely supported clubs in the country as well as one of the most followed sports team from Asia in the social media.[15][16][17] The club is also the two time runners up of the league.

I-League

Gokulam Kerala represents Kerala in I-League. They went on to play in the I league for the first time in the 2017–18 I-League. Gokulam Kerala played all their matches in the EMS Stadium which is located in the heart of the city. The West stand was the largest and could accommodate the maximum number of people. The EMS Stadium was a 53,000 capacity football stadium. Although the club did not have a good beginning, they went on to defeat big clubs in the I-league like East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Punjab FC by the end of the season.[18] Travancore Royals FC from capital city Trivandrum is first fans owned football club in India.[19]

Kerala Premier League

Kerala Premier League is a football league organised by Kerala Football Association played in the state of Kerala, India. It was founded in 2013, competed by 10 football clubs from the state. It is hoped to bring back the golden years of football in Kerala that football in Kerala once had.[20]

Hockey
International Hockey Stadium in Kollam

Hockey is the pride game of city of Kollam and Kollam district. There are a lot number of Kollam city based players in Indian hockey team as well as Kerala Hockey Team.

Kollam is famous for its players and the passion for the game. So to support the city's passion towards hockey, Government of Kerala have built a most modern state of the type astro turf hockey stadium within the city, which is first of its kind in the state. International Hockey Stadium in Kollam is having a total seating capacity of 5,000[21] built at a cost of Rs.17.55 Crores (US$2.84 Million).[22] The stadium is now the home-ground of Kerala Hockey Team. Comparing to other sports, hockey is not much popular in Kerala. But the most popular hockey player from Kerala is P R Sreejesh. He has captained Indian team on several occasions.[23]

Athletics

Kerala has a rich history of producing world class athletes. Athletes like T. C. Yohannan, Suresh Babu, P.T.Usha, Shiny Wilson, K. M. Beenamol, Tintu Lukka, Anju Bobby George, Preeja Sreedharan, Renjith Maheshwary are amongst the best Kerala has produced.[24]

Volleyball

Volleyball, another popular sport, is often played on makeshift courts on sandy beaches along the coast. Jimmy George, born in Peravoor, Kannur, was arguably the most successful volleyball player ever to represent India. At his prime he was regarded as among the world's ten best players.[25]

Cricket

Cricket, the most followed sport in South Asia, only became popular in Kerala state in recent decades. Earlier cricket was continually played only in select places like Thalassery, Cannanore, Fort Kochi, Ernakulam and Tripunithura. Shanthakumaran Sreesanth (right-arm fast-medium, played 26 tests and 53 ODIs for India) is often regarded as the most successful cricketer from Kerala. Tinu Yohannan, son of Olympic long jumper T. C. Yohannan, also represented India, 3 times in tests and ODIs and Sanju Samson, a future Indian batsman, who already joined Indian team. K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (344 first class wickets) is also a famous domestic cricket from Kerala, who took 344 wickets in first class cricket. Kochi Tuskers, a short lived former Indian Premier League team, represented Kochi, Kerala. Sports Hub Trivandrum and Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium (Kaloor International Stadium) are the two international cricket stadiums in Kerala.[26]

Water-Polo

Kerala is considered as one of the best Jndians states, regarding water-polo. Malayalee clubs, teams, players, both women and men, are some of the most valuable in India, winning several national championships.[27]

Nadan Panthu Kali (Native Football)

Nadan Panthu Kali is a popular sport played in villages of Kottayam district and Muvattupuzha Taluk. Villages like Manaracd, Puthuppally, Thottakkadu, Thirvanchoor, Meendam, Manganam, Kurichy, Valakom etc. are the places where this game is played. The popularity of the game is dying as there is not much money and younger generation are more interested in cricket.

This game is played using a small ball made of leather and filled with cotton or coconut fibre. Each team consist of 5 or 7 players each. The game is played for 5 Innings (vara). Each inning, both the teams are allowed to do "vettu" where they initiate the scoring and other team prevents from the scoring. Scoring points follow the sequence like otta, petta, pidiyan, thalm, Keezhu, Indan and then it repeats. The team which score the most points from the innings wins.

Annual Tournaments are conducted at these villages every year and have huge local support.[28]

List of Stadiums in Kerala

The following is a list of major stadiums in Kerala in the order of their capacity.

Sports Hub Trivandrum
Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium
NoStadiumCapacityCityDistrictMain Use
1Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium60,000KochiErnakulamCricket, Football[29]
2Sports Hub Trivandrum55,000ThiruvananthapuramThiruvananthapuramCricket, Football
3EMS Stadium50,000KozhikodeKozhikodeFootball
4Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium30,000KollamKollamFootball
5Jawahar Municipal Stadium30,000KannurKannurFootball
6Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium25,000ThiruvananthapuramThiruvananthapuramFootball
7Malappuram District Sports Complex Stadium25,000ManjeriMalappuramFootball
8University Stadium20,000ThiruvananthapuramThiruvananthapuramFootball, Cricket
9Krishnagiri Stadium20,000WayanadWayanadCricket[30]
10Thrissur Municipal Corporation Stadium15,000ThrissurThrissurFootball
11Maharaja's College Stadium15,000KochiErnakulamMulti-purpose[31]
12Thrissur Aquatic Complex10,000ThrissurThrissurSwimming
13Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium10,000KochiErnakulamMulti-purpose
14FACT Stadium5,000KochiErnakulamMulti-purpose
15International Hockey Stadium5,000KollamKollamHockey[32]
16Jimmy George Indoor Stadium2,000ThiruvananthapuramThiruvananthapuramMulti-purpose

References
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  2. "6 Fascinating Facts About Kalaripayattu, World's Oldest Martial Arts Discipline". BookMartialArts.com. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  3. "KPL: Blasters edge Gokulam to emerge champs". OnManorama. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  4. "Oommen Chandy inaugurates new Trivandrum International Stadium".
  5. "Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kochi (Kaloor International Stadium)".
  6. "Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium".
  7. "Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium (CSN)".
  8. "Astro turf hockey stadium in Kollam". TNIE. 23 December 2009.
  9. "Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode".
  10. "Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  11. "Indoor Stadium, Mundayad".
  12. "How Kerala shrunk football to make it its own - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  13. "Sevens Football: Top five players who went on to represent India". Khel Now. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  14. "Indian Football: Legends from the 'football mad' state of Kerala | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  15. Salikha, Adelaida. "Top FIVE Asian Clubs With Highest Social Media Followers, Up to October 2018 | Seasia.co". Good News from Southeast Asia. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  16. "Indian Football: Five most-followed clubs on social media". Khel Now. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  17. "Kerala Blasters online fan base swells to 4.3 million, becomes 10th most followed football club in Asia". My Khel. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  18. "Gokulam Kerala beat Mohun Bagan 2-1 to win Durand Cup". Zee News. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  19. "Make way for the first fan-owned football club". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  20. "KFA Announces Kerala Premier League". Football News India. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  21. Astro-turf hockey stadium - The New Indian Express
  22. "Crores Spent; Game for Future? - The New Indian Express". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  23. "'Dronacharya of Kerala hockey' Sreedhar Shenoy passes away". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  24. "Olympics moments: PT Usha misses bronze by a whisker". DNA India. 21 May 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  25. "Sportal ---- Sports Portal -- GOVERNMENT OF INDIA --". Archived from the original on 14 May 2008.
  26. "Kochi can host cricket and football alike, says GCDA". Mathrubhumi. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  27. "Kerala Swimmers Win Second Straight Gold in Water Polo". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  28. "Strike the ball in six different ways in this barefoot game". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  29. "Nehru Stadium". ESPNcricinfo.
  30. "Scenic Krishnagiri Stadium Warms up for First International Match". The New Indian Express.
  31. "Maharaja College Ground". ESPNcricinfo.
  32. "Crores Spent; Game for Future? - The New Indian Express". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
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