When Shillong Lajong shocked Indian football giants East Bengal in the quarter-final of the 133rd Durand Cup, Meghalaya was reaffirmed in their belief that football and sports in general can be the catalyst for change in the Northeastern state.
The semi-final was swiftly moved to Shillong for a ‘Northeast derby’ against NorthEast United by the organisers and the state government. Everyone wanted tickets and word on the streets was abuzz with football chatter.
The stadium was packed with many fans still waiting outside the gate for a chance in and even though Lajong’s journey came to an end on the night, Shillong looked hungry for more.
Meghalaya’s deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong looked determined for the future as he sat down for an interaction with News18.com.
“I think this is the first time, even in the history of Meghalaya, that (Shillong) Lajong have reached to this level (semi-final of a major national tournament). So I’m telling you, with this tournament, things has changed. We could see youth especially, or young boys and young girls. Now, they realise one thing, that even in their village or in a remote area… you have potential,” he said.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has taken keen interest to use sports for the development of the state. The State Sports Policy, launched in 2019, has seen the launch of the STAR program, and the Mission Football.
At the heart of Mission Football 2.0 is the New Shillong City project, for which Conrad K Sangma had held discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for financial assistance of INR 1000 crore.
“The development of New Shillong is very much part of the agenda of our government. We have started the Meghalaya Games a few years back and through this, our intention is to reach the top level. The creation of infrastructure keeps happening and we would like to see in the next few years proper infra not only at district level, but it should happen up to the block level. The government is certain that transformation of the youth mentally physically will happen in the state soon,” Prestone Tynsong said.
“We are on a special mission mode for sporting activities in the state,” he added.
Vijay Kumar D, commissioner and secretary to the government of Meghalaya said: “In New Shillong, there’s a thought process to do something like a sports city with a football training academy, a bigger stadium and other things. When we look at the fact that we were not able to give tickets to so many people for the Durand Cup semi-final, the only way is to have a bigger stadium. So we are working on those things.”
The initiatives have already started boring results. The Meghalaya state team finished runners-up in the 2023 Santosh Trophy, the U-17 Meghalaya team also won Gold at the Khelo India Youth Games and as recently the Nongiri Presbyterian Secondary School won the 2024 Subroto Cup Sub-Juniors Title.
Hosting the National Games is next on the agenda having hosted the NorthEast Games recently with facilities being developed through out the state for the Meghalaya Games.
The Meghalaya government and NorthEast United FC have come together for a residential football academy after CM Conrad Sangma and John Abraham announced the partnership back in March of this year.
“We are trying to create an overall ecosystem. So it is not just about this one stadium, obviously. So we have stadia and other places we are creating now. We’re also building large number of artificial turfs in every block, in every subdivision. Smaller stadia are also coming up in places,” Vijay Kumar said.
“In New Shillong, along with tourism, IT and sports have been identified as the three big drivers. So, sports has definitely been part of that plan. Overall, infrastructure-wise we are already doing it. Now training and coaching is the second most important thing, that is where our investment is.,” he added.
Meghalaya deputy CM also revealed that the state is looking to host more national football tournaments like the Durand Cup and the Subroto Cup in the future.
Comments
0 comment