When the going gets turf...

It's 10 minutes to 1'o clock on a Saturday night. Dharm Patel and his group of friends have been looking forward to this hour whole week. No, they aren't waiting to enter a nightclub. But yes, this is a 'club' of another kind — an astro turf football club. They will get out on the turf in a mall and sweat it out with a five-on-five football match for 60 minutes. And yet, you thought you knew all about night life in this city.
Patel, who works with an online magazine, and his friends aren't the only ones to have taken to this new-found craze. If these group of friends from Lokhandwala get done at 2 am, it's the BPO employees from Goregaon awaiting their turn as soon as their night shift gets over.
Astro turf was till recently considered a luxurious option when it came to playing football in these parts. But slowly, it has got out of the niche bracket through word of mouth. And considering how packed the schedules of these turfs are, it is one of the most played sports in the city.
Most of these turfs function from 5 am to well past midnight. Dream Sports Field InOrbit is shut just for two hours (3 am-5 am) a day. You play at a time you want to. A win-win for football lovers in the city, a win-win for the owners and managers of these places.
Patel says, "We all are busy but considering how flexible these places are and the number of choices we have in the area, we don't have any complaints. You get a good grip and the surface is perfect to play. There is no time wasting with the ball going out as one plays in an enclosure."

Malls, the new playgrounds
Malls may have taken over space in the city, but at least football lovers are not complaining as owners are letting out their spacious terraces or open spaces in their complex on rent for astro turf football.
The region between Andheri (West) and Kandivli (West) alone has eight turfs — Tiger Play in Citi Mall (Lokhandwala), Footbrawl in Mega Mall (Oshiwara) and Santacruz; go a bit further and you have the Dream Sports Field at InOrbit Mall (Malad) and Growel's (Kandivli). Facilities in Vile Parle and Santacruz complete the set in the suburbs.
South Mumbai has three options — Kamala Mills (Lower Parel), Atria Mall (Worli), the first of the lot, and Cooperage ground (Churchgate). Giving them stiff competition are astro turfs in Viviana Mall (Thane), R City Mall (Ghatkopar) and IMAX Dome (Vadala).
Enthusiasts are charged by the hour, depending on the place and time. A group of 10-12 (depending on whether it's a five-a-side or 6-a-side game) may have to shell out anything between Rs 1,500 (Footbrawl at Oshiwara and Santacruz on weekdays) to Rs 3,800 (Atria Mall, Kamala Mills and Cooperage — the highest).
Playing under floodlights gives you a stadium-like feel and that's why Shravan Mehra, an engineering student from Andheri, plays no matter what the time is.
"There are space constraints in housing societies. Also, you can't bring in too many 'outsiders'. This is why I prefer the astro turf. It's affordable considering we don't have enough open spaces around. There is a beach nearby, but it's dirty and crowded. Here, at the mall, it's just your group. It's cool because you can play here even at midnight," the 22-year-old says.
Sachin Sanghvi, manager, Tiger Play, says, "Where is the space to play? Most grounds are meant for cricket. Even if you do get space, you have to share it with groups playing the same or different sport. Societies are more interested in making money by selling parking space. Why would a builder waste land by allotting a playing ground for kids. Look at New Delhi, you hardly see any astro turfs there because there are so many grounds. It varies from city to city."

RISKING INJURY
However, not everyone is convinced with the idea of astro turfs. Former India player and current coach of the Air India team, Godfrey Pereira, says that playing on turfs can lead to injury.
"Astro turf grounds are injury-prone and not good for the longevity of one's playing career. A players needs strength to play 90 minutes. But these turfs are hard and weaken the knees. If a player doesn't have the strength, then what's the use? In Europe, football on astro turfs is banned. They play on natural grass. I think that's what India needs."
Pereira says that such turfs aren't going help football in the country. "Mentally, a five-on-five game is different from a field game. If the owners of such turfs want to do something for the betterment of football, they should have work at the grassroots. Frankly, I think this is just a money-making business."
Dempo legend Reberto Mendes da Silva (Beto) says astro turfs are good for youth development programmes, but definitely not for professional football. "There is a serious lack of grounds in Mumbai. These turfs are good for youth development. Competitive football is quite difficult as players push themselves to the maximum. But if you want to play for fun, then it's the best thing," the Brazilian says.

Coaching too
These facilities are also used to coach youngsters. At Astro Park (Atria Mall and Kamala Mills), you can see five-year-olds going through the grind. One has to shell out Rs 1,800 for three hours a week.
The kids can't seem to get enough of it. "The grass (not knowing it's artificial) feels so soft. Even if I fall down, I won't get hurt. I can run around without worrying about any other ball (as is the case in an open ground) hitting me," says seven-year-old Varun Varma who goes to Bombay Scottish, Mahim.
The International Institute of Sports Management, (IISM) held its annual astro turf competition at Tiger Play on Friday. A 100-mark college project soon turned into eight students purchasing eight franchises (names of popular European football clubs) with players going under the hammer. The money raised through the auction was spent in organising the tournament and a prize money of Rs 15,000 for the winners.
"All of us play football and we thought of making this more than just a couple of matches here and there. The auction was good fun with the costliest player going for Rs 14,000," said Kirsten Varela, captain of one of the eight sides.
The IISM girls, too, made it into the teams and despite them not playing as frequently as the guys, they had immense fun.
"I've hardly played football, but it's nice to play with your friends in such matches. It's good for team building and bonding," says Shruti Kadam, an IISM student and national swimmer.
Shyam Balakrishnan owns four astro turfs across the city (Goregaon, Santacruz, Vadala and Thane). "It's absolutely packed on weekends. Sometimes, kids plan on playing for one hour but go on to play if the next slot is free. There are no worries, no complaints. The kids love to play in the rain which is why we don't have a roof," he says.

Building on an idea
With their target audience being the 12-40 age category, a majority of these astro turfs have a presence in the digital world too.
"We introduced the concept of a marketplace. For example, if there's a player who doesn't have a team or a team is short of a player, they can go to our website and find a team or a player," says Jigar Doshi, co-owner of Astro Park.
Doshi's partners, Nikhil Sachdev and Pratik Doshi, studied in the UK. The facilities there prompted them to start something in India. "Now that we've made our presence, the idea is to take things forward. We have astro turf leagues, coaching clinics, tie-ups with NGOs. The growth has been remarkable," says Sachdev.