The 56th National School Games was off to a colorful start on Friday at Sports Complex,Sector 42,organised by the Education Department Chandigarh Administration. Thirty-two teams and about 1,800 players are participating in various sports including football (U-14 boys and girls),badminton (U-14,U-17 and U-19 boys and girls) and cricket (U-19 boys). The National School Games is fun for many but will be tough for some thanks to the weather. The southern teams are finding it difficult to cope with the extreme winter. K Baquialatchrimy,the Coach of Puducherry team,said: I prefer spring or summer to play. In this weather,players take longer than usual to warm up. So they get less time to practice,which may affect their performance. One of our players got an asthmatic attack due to the weather. We reached Chandigarh on Thursday and our first days experience was not good, said Vidyadar Hali,Coach of Karnataka team. We were not expecting such cold. The minimum temperature in south is 23 degrees and here it is 4 degrees,pointed out Jency Moli,one of the players from the Tamil Nadu team. The team is staying at Government Model Senior Secondary School,Sector 46,and have been provided with blankets and quilts. But there are no heaters in our rooms and the washrooms are not clean, Moli said. Some of the Kerala team players had to rush to buy more woollens. I am afraid the cold may affect the performance of our players, said Coach Bestine C Michael. The team is staying at Government Model Senior Secondary School,Sector 37 and find most of the arrangements satisfactory. But the team,he said,is not happy with the food. We are bored with eating potatoes everyday.
