Aizawl: The 26th edition of the North East Games, the mega sports event for the region, kicked off at Rajiv Gandhi Sports Stadium here on Tuesday.
The event was inaugurated by Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla during a colourful ceremony.
Addressing the march past contingents and the multitude of spectators, Lal Thanhawla said that the Northeast region has a huge sports talent.
“We are also proud to have a good number of sports persons who have won laurels for the North East at the national and international level. We look forward to more local talents from the North East in future. We already have a fair presence in the national football arena,” he said.
“There will be more in different fields, including cricket. There is great potential in other contact sports and martial arts like taekwondo, judo and karate. Indoor games like gymnastics, table tennis, weight lifting, power lifting, billiards and snookers need to be promoted further,” the Mizoram chief minister said. Expressing his concern over lack of fund to implement sports schemes in the region, Lal Thanhawla said, “We have not been able to build the required infrastructure to nurture sports. Besides, training in sports requires huge investment and we lack proper coaching facilities and properly equipped training centres to train young people for national and international standards.” According to Lal Thanhawla, sports administration and management is another area which needs to be developed by using a professional approach. “Our universities and management institutions must develop courses in sports administration and management,” he urged. Altogether 1006 players and 180 officials from all eight northeast states will participat in the sports event that will end on March 23. (UNI)