Short History of United Sports Club, Kayalpatnam

Around the 1940s and 50s, the then youngsters of Kayalpatnam in the Thoothukkudi District of Tamil Nadu were playing various games, more popularly football, in any open space they could find around this village. As the village grew, and open spaces were taken by residential buildings, they congregated around an open disused pond, the "Pakeeran Kulam" (Fakir's Pond), which they covered up with debris from demolished houses, filled it with sand, and used it as their playground.
And they formed themselves into a single entity and named it "UNITED SPORTS CLUB". The Club was registered in 1955 under the Socities Registration Act, and was affiliated to the (then) Tirunelveli District Football, Volleyball and Badmintion Associations. The patta lands around the lake was bought and a large ground of about 4 acres was formed. Separate grounds and courts for various sports were carved out, along with a children's playpen, recreation pastime for the elderly and a health club and gymnasium for all. Tournaments in various sports were conducted at the local and district levels, especially in football, the most popular sport, which developed from District level to State level.
M/s Dharangadhara Chemical Works Ltd, Sahupuram, situated nearby, sponsored the early tournaments with the "DCW Shield" for the winners. Tournaments were also conducted in Badminton and Volleyball, and more recently, in Cricket, which has become the craze of the modern youth, with the active support of the respective District Associations.
On National Holidays, the club conducts various games involving local and regional sportspersons. On Republic Day (January 26), they conduct a 32 km cycle race in the morning and a Kite show in the afternoon. On Independence Day (August 15), they conduct a 10km mini marathon.
In 1974, the Football Tournament was upgraded to the National Level, with the kind permission of the All India Football Federation and Tamil Nadu Football Association, and two new trophies were instituted; the MOULANA ABULKALAM AZAD CUP for the Winners and the LKS JEWELLERS, TIRUCHY, CUP for the Runners-up. Notable winners of these trophies were Army Service Centre, Hyderabad and Sikh Regimental Centre, Meerut (1974); Punjab Special Police, Hoshiarpur (1976); Madras Engineering Group, Bangalore; Titanium XI, Thiruvananthapuram (2003); Keltron Football Club, Cannanore (2004); and Integrated Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai (2005). Since the playground was an old disused pond, it became inundated during the rainy seasons, for which the club had to suspend all sporting activities for three years (2000 - 2002) and they carried out major renovation work; raising the whole ground for about two feet, and relaying it with red gravel. The Azad Trophy Football Tournament was resumed in 2003.
Apart from Sports, the club members are also engaged in various other fields, mainly education, health and medical care, social activities and calamity assistances. In education, they actively co-operate with the management, staff and students of the LK Group of schools, to whom they lend freely the grounds for their sports, and from whose alumni they draw their young talent. For the past 12 years, they conduct the LK LEBBAI THAMBY MEMORIAL Football Tournament for Schools, in memory of the school's founder and one of their earlier patrons. They also provide educational assistance and scholarship to poor and needy students. In the health and medical fields, (i) they have conducted free Eye camps with the active co-operation of the Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai and Tirunelveli, where they sponsor cataract operations to hundreds of the indigent (ii) free General Medical Camp, sponsored by M/s Dharangadhara Chemical Works Ltd, Sahupuram (iii) free Heart-care Medical Camp, where people with heart problems were diagnosed and proper treatment advised, and in case of the indigent, sponsored by the club. In the social field, they participate in all sorts of activities involving their local populace, without distinction of religion, caste or creed. During times of calamities of various nature, (i) their members rise to the occasion, they organised a local collection funds for the National Defence Fund; (ii) in 1965, during the Indo-Pak War, heeding to the call of our then Premier Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, they organised and actively campaigned for donation of gold ornaments from the local public towards the National Gold Bond Scheme; (iii) in 1977, when cyclone struck the coasts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, their members then residing in Bombay (Mumbai), collected through their friends and business associates, and also by screening the then latest film, THE DAY OF THE JACKAL, a sum of Rupees 1,5 lakhs, and donated through the Maharastra Government; (iv) For the Gujarat earthquake of 2000, they collected locally and donated through the Government of Tamil Nadu, Rs.50,000; (v) During the Tsunami Disaster, they collected and are continuing to collect money and material for rehabilitation for the survivors. In 1967, they constructed at the southern end of their ground a pavilion and balcony for general use, named after Mr.D.A. Peter, local School Physical Education Teacher, and the ever-active Organiser of all their sports activities and functions, who met his sudden and untimely demise in a road accident in 1964. In this D.A. Peter Pavilion, they have located their club office, and a library. A lot of dignitaries, national and state leaders have come to the club and addressed the public from the balcony. Notable among them are: His Excellency President Shri R.Venkatraman (when he was Union Defence Minister in 1980), Honourable Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi, in October 1988, Thiru M. Karunanidhi (1973) and Thiru M.G. Ramachandran (1983), Chief Ministers; and various State Ministers, District Collectors and Superintendents of Police during their presiding over our sport functions.
The Annual All India Football Tournament for the Moulana Abulkalam Azad Trophy is the pinnacle of all the activities, when leading teams from all over India are invited to participate, with their travelling and daily allowances being met by the club; the revenue for which is borne by their members who contribute their mite for the successful conduct of this competitive sporting event. Even then, these are being conducted under stringent financial restraints. They therefore make their fervent appeal to the sports-loving business community and corporate business and financial institutions to take up co-sponsorship of at least a part of their expenses, mostly the travel and daily allowances of the participating teams, and the awards to the eventual Winners and Runners-up.