As night fall in the ancient city of Katsina, floodlights beam down on small, fenced pitches spread across the metropolis. Football pitches known as Five aside or arenas are becoming ubiquitous as they now form part of vibrant night hangouts in town.
For many residents, these arenas are more than luxury. They see them as necessities.
Football pitches used to be open and sandy fields in neighborhoods but as the city expands, shops, houses, schools and other buildings took over the fields and pushed out football lovers.
21st CENTURY CHRONICLE gathers that the arenas have also become popular in Katsina, like in several other states, because most players spend their days at their offices or business places making it difficult to play football or exercise in the day time.
Several players spoken to by this newspaper said they registered for the sessions because they’ve limited time during the day.
“Every working day, I go to office by 09:00 in the morning and leave by 5:00pm. I also have other official engagements that make it difficult to continue playing football in the day time, but I’ve free time in the night which is okay for me to play,” Abdurazak Ibrahim, a marketing manager with Vision FM in Katsina told 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE on Thursday.
The football pitches are covered in artificial grass carpets and floodlights to enable play after sunset as most games are in the night. The arenas are opened for day and night game sessions.
Players are divided into three sets with each having seven players including a goalkeeper. Payment are mostly made based on hour basis.
While lack of open fields and engagements during the day have been the most popular reasons for the development of night football arenas, some players go there to stay fit and healthier.
“I’m not playing to become a professional footballer,” Coach Babangida, a mechanical engineer in Sabuwar Unguwa area said. “But playing football at least twice a week helps keep me healthier. I sleep better any day I play football in the night.”
Aside football, other activities also take place in the centres. 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE finds out that most of the centres have event halls and fast food joints. The centres have become lively social spaces where friends and or colleagues meet after work and strangers become friends.
Mini football competitions especially by corporate and private organisations are also organised in the mini football arenas. Every year, this newspaper gathers that Ramadan Cups are organised in at least seven of the football arenas in the metropolis. Another football competition that has become popular in the last five years is the “Bankers Cup” organised by commercial and government owned banks in the city.
“It’s really a good idea because we can now spend good time in the office and come here in the night,” Aliyu Umar, a teacher met at Paragon Sport Centre in Gidan Dawa told our reporter. “I’m about 40 years, so playing night football also helps me to stay fit.”
Sports loving people and other entrepreneurs in Katsina have taken note of the growing demands for more night football arenas. 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE counted 17 such night football arenas in the metropolis. The centres operate on booking schedule with each team playing one or two or more hours defending on the financial capacity. In most of the centres, one hour goes for N10,000.
“Some of the groups pay what we call subscription; by paying for the whole month so they could play four times that’s weekly. So, it means throughout the month that particular group would play for instance 09:00 – 10:00pm every week,” an attendant at Timeless Sports Centre around Hamada carpet, told this reporter.
