Sports is no longer co-curricular: Mizoram Sports Minister

October 19, 2022 6 Views No Comment

‘Wish Nagaland would one day have I-league calibre club’

Morung Express News
Dimapur | October 19

Mizoram’s Minister of State for Sports & Youth Services, Robert Romawia Royte recalled a time back in the 1980s when he was captivated by the performance of a football team from Nagaland. “I remember, when I was a student in Shillong, I was a big fan of the Nagaland Police (football team). They used to win all the tournaments. But it went silent (in the later years),” recalled Royte.

On a brighter note, he said that there has been a reawakening today in Nagaland with the most recent example being the Nagaland Under-17 team winning the Subroto Cup.

Royte, who has been associated with Nagaland through his consultancy firm— NECS, before he became a legislator, was speaking at the inaugural function of the 5-day All Nagaland College Students’ Union (ANCSU) Collegiate Meet 2022, which began on October 17 at the Sakus Mission College campus, Dimapur. ‘Metamosphosis’ is the theme of the collegiate, which will conclude on October 21.

According to him, Nagaland is gradually gaining ground and that it was encouraging to note the introduction of astro turfs, as a far as football is concerned. In his home state of Mizoram, he said that after he assumed office in 2018, he had committed to laying 30 astro turfs, including futsal grounds. This commitment was however delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite, he added that the mission is continuing with more and more sports facilities like futsal grounds and volleyball courts coming up across Mizoram.

This, he said, was the result of his government committing to introducing a comprehensive sports policy within 365 days of him assuming office. While stating the policy as pledged was introduced before the deadline, he said that the target of the policy was to create an environment for sports to grow as an industry by also focusing on promoting sports entrepreneurs, besides sportspersons and sports infrastructure. According to him, it included building a financial support base to budding sports promoters in the form of startup loans.

“In Aizawl, Futsal grounds have become a profitable business,” he said, while adding that Mizoram has produced several footballers, who have gone on to play in the I-League. The football club he owns— Aizawl FC won the I-League in 2016-17, India’s topmost league football and it has the distinction of producing/promoting the first I-League players from Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura. “I wish that Nagaland would one day have an I-league club,” he said.

Emphasising the commitment of the Government of Mizoram to sports and fitness in general, he said, “If you go through the New Education Policy document (of India), you will find the word ‘sports’ as many as 30 times. What I am trying to say is that sports has become education and not co-curricular as it used to be.”

While stating that fitness correlates to productivity, he said that Mizoram had initiated the Fit Mizoram Movement well before the Government of India made it a nationwide mission.

Today, he added, students have access to more opportunities to face the challenges of life than of the previous years and that Nagaland is fortunate to have sports conclaves like the ANCSU Collegiate. “Some play for medals, some for joy, some for fitness and health. Today’s gathering and the activities that will follow will only aid your education and also fighting unknown and unrecognised stress,” he added.

On the Naga political issue, he commented, “I wish that the Naga political issue is solved at the earliest but the terms should be acceptable to all Nagas.”

While Mizoram may be relatively faring better than Nagaland in terms of sports, he said that tourism is one area where the former would want to learn from the latter.

Meanwhile, ANCSU President, Toito D Chishi, emphasised the value of creating a sports ecosystem. According to Chishi, “Our generation is already competent” and called upon the state government to inject the required impetus for sports promotion and the establishment of a sports university.

Naga Students Federation President, Kegwahyun Tep pointed out that Nagaland often falls at the bottom in terms of development indicators, including but not limited to youth empowerment and sports. Nevertheless, he expressed confidence that the ANCSU meet would affect the change required in the Naga society.

Source: https://morungexpress.com/sports-is-no-longer-co-curricular-mizoram-sports-minister