By Moa Jamir
Since 2006, the Music Task Force (MTF) under the Department of Youth Resources and Sports (DYRS), despite apparent anomalies, has been successful in promoting some local talents as well as reviving folk music and making the state a ‘popular’ music destination.
Another project for youth initiated during the same period is languishing under years of neglect and dismal record due to administrative apathy and poor implementation. It is the DYRS’s ‘Nagaland Sports Policy 2006’ designed primarily to facilitate multi-dimensional and integrated approach to accelerate sports.
Take the example of Mizoram, which has become a powerhouse of talent in football in recent years. In March 2014 after it lifted National Santosh Trophy, the Mizoram Football Association Honorary Secretary Lalnghinglova Hmar told
Firstpost, an online news portal, that "The best way for Mizoram to make a name in a country as big as India is football."
Mizoram has, since then, become known as ‘India's football factory’ or ‘breeding ground’ with many players from the state dotting the national arena.
Last year the
Times of India reported that as many as 42 Mizo footballers featured in the line-ups of the Nine I-League teams for 2015 season - a good 20% of the player-share. Last month,
India Today reported that nearly 40% of the players in the national arena were Mizos.
Mizoram is currently under FIFA's Grassroots Project and Aizawl FC became the first club from the state to qualify for the I-League. Seven boys from Mizoram were selected to train and play football in the prestigious Bundesliga, the professional association football league in Germany this year.
It has now surpassed Manipur as the state 'exporting' quality footballers to the mainland.
The ‘football revolution’ kick-started in 2012 with two notable events. The Mizoram Premier League (MPL) under Mizoram Football Association (MFA) was one. Second, Mizoram became the first Indian state to undertake the grassroots programme initiated by FIFA and implemented under AIFF to groom boys between 6-12 years for 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup to be held in India.
MFA was awarded the Best Member Association award by AIFF for running the best grassroots programme in the country. MPL has become one of the finest state leagues in terms of quality, competitiveness, and management.
Three things were crucial for this – the creation of required infrastructure with active government support, genuine grassroot talent scouting, and a well-coordinated system.
The football grounds, devoid of natural grass, in NE states, are mainly mud and clay. The creation of ‘artificial turf’ was essential. The government supported the project earnestly by investing four crores each for six such turfs, two actively operational in Aizawl alone.
Hmar also told the
Firstpost that there is constant checking to ensure that grassroots coaches are actively applying what they learn in grassroots development programmes.
A well-coordinated system helps grassroot talent scouting. Annually, there are MFA’s sub-junior and junior tournaments where nearly 110 and 200 teams participate respectively. At the top level there is MFA Cup and MPL.
The best outcome, however, is that the selection is based on merit alone and not on any other criteria, Hmar told
India Today News Channel in June.
Active community support, proper implementation, and providing equal opportunity and accessibility also help. “In startling egalitarianism, Luangmual stadium's (in Aizawl) artificial turf set up in 2011, belongs to simply everyone who wishes to make use of it,”
Times of India noted in its report. The same criteria applies across the state.
Contrast this with the situation in Nagaland. The recent Comptroller Auditor General of India Report of DYRS is a grand indictment.
“Failure to prepare a developmental plan for sports and youth activities leads to ad-hoc promotion of sports and culture in the state,” it said adding that, there is no “survey to identify the gap in infrastructures, talents, sports equipment and sport and youth activities.” The Sports policy which was to be reviewed once in two years was absent.
Search programme for scouting talent at sub-division level was not conducted resulting in lost opportunity of tapping sports talent at the grassroot level. During 2010-15, no road show or talent search programme was conducted, the CAG noted.
As a result, during 2010-15, out of 636 medals, including 164 gold, won by Naga sportspersons in national events, only 12 gold came from the two academies run by the state, while 152 from others.
It implies that genuine talents are missed in selection process due to various reasons and talent scouting, road shows or catch-them-young programmes are only namesake.
In a football crazy state where foreign football clubs are supported with religious fervour, the Nagaland Premier League (NPL), which started in 2013, stopped after Season II.
The dismal sports scenario in the state can be ascertained from the fact that in last two decades, the medal tally of Nagaland adds to a measly 12 in six national games.
Therefore, how about notching down the tone of music a bit and tuning into some sports?
Or the volume for both can be raised equally.
For any comment, drop a line to moajamir@live.com
