Tura: As part of the state government’s Mission Football that was launched in Shillong in the month of July, Meghalaya sports minister Zenith M Sangma on Wednesday inaugurated the launch of Football Coaching Clinics at Tura District Auditorium in the presence of officials of the Department of Sports & Youth Affairs, coaches, teachers and students of various schools of the town.
It may be mentioned that the Coaches Clinic is meant to provide training to the grass root coaches who will be manning the grass root Coaching Centres in the State under Mission Football. Out of 68 coaching centres in the state, 28 centres are in Garo Hills district, of which 8 centres are in West Garo Hills, 8 centres in South West Garo Hills, 4 in South Garo Hills, 4 in East Garo Hills and 4 centres in North Garo Hills.
Speaking on the occasion, Zenith Sangma while congratulating the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs for launching the Coaches Clinic said that this was one of the important components of Mission Football which aims to empower the young and train the football lovers in the state of Meghalaya at the grassroot level. He said that people had the potential, passion and love for the game of football even in the earlier days but could not uphold it further due to lack of professionalism in the game.
He further informed that the government was focused on creating a committed environment to enable the potential football players to get the right kind of training to ensure that Meghalaya ultimately becomes the power house of football. Therefore, he advised the coaches to train the budding football players in such a way that they see football as a viable career option in future.
While delivering the keynote address, Director of Sports and Youth Affairs, Matsiewdor War Nongbri informed that coaches clinic aims to empower and train the coaches in the districts which will train about 60 to 100 football players in each centre. Befitting to the phrase “Catch them Young” the state government is focused to develop the talents from the young age of 6 to 12 years in order to provide utmost benefit to the promising players of the region, she added. Moreover, the initiative will also develop other sporting infrastructure and facilities in the state.